IS Nine Ball
by BountyRook
Summary: When the IS was revealed the Alaska Treaty was made to prevent its overwhelming power from causing an unfair advantage in the world. However one IS pilot decided to give the treaty the middle finger and do whatever he wanted with his IS known as Nine Ball.
1. Chapter 1

**IS Nine Ball**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Infinite Stratos.**

**Chapter 1**

* * *

The IS aka The Infinite Stratos. A machine that has caused a lot of chaos in the world since its unveiling to the world by the eccentric creator Tabane Shinonono. For some unknown reason the IS can only be piloted by the female gender and thanks to that it caused a huge power play in the world and formed a new form of status quot. Thanks to this a slew of incidents occurred much later.

First was the creation of the Alaska Treaty to prevent the mass production of IS especially as a weapon of war. Many countries had signed the treaty and agreed to abide by it with the exception of a few countries that didn't like the IS at all. Next was the White Knight incident when several warheads were launched at Japan. The warheads were destroyed by a woman in the IS suit known as the White Knight and after saving Japan she vanished. Finally there was the Nine Ball Massacre, an event that had caused a huge uproar in the societal norm of the world.

This grim event involved the mass killing of a group of terrorists from the group known as Phantom Task who had been causing trouble in the world. Not only did this reinforce the importance of the Alaska Treaty it also opened a can of worms. The IS was a red and black colored death machine with an emblem showing the number 9 on it that went by the name "Nine Ball". It had advanced technology and weaponry that surpassed the IS altogether. But the real kicker was that the pilot of that deadly IS suit was a male!

Thanks to the actions of the Nine Ball and its pilot many countries were pointing fingers at each other because there was an IS out there that went against the Alaska Treaty. Those same nations also looked for the pilot and his IS out because of the fact that he was a male who could pilot an IS but he and the IS went off the grid and were not seen for a very long time. Until now...

**...**

**Arena 6, IS Academy**

A certain individual sat at an unoccupied seat in the stadium further away from the crowd while utilizing tactical camouflage to stay invisible. The person in question had their own reason why they did not want to be seen and now they were watching the battle going on between two IS pilots. One is a rather short girl, who looked to be of Chinese descent and had green eyes, brown hair tied to both the left and right side of her head and wore a pink one-piece swimsuit? Seriously? Her IS was pink and black covering her hands, legs, chest and back, the wing parts were separate from her body and had orange stripes flowing through it. Her weapon of choice were two large blades made of a metal known as liuyedaos. Her opponent is a boy with blue hair and brown eyes, wearing a skin-tight suit that parted in the middle and continued down that matched his hair and his IS was white and also covering his arms, legs, and chest and the wings protruding from his back. His weapon was a glowing blue sword.

_**"The girl is Lingyin Huang, IS representative for China and she pilots the IS Shenlong." **_said an robotic voice to the spectator.

"And a little brat to boot." replied the person with distaste. "And the boy, Seraph?"

_**"Ichika Orimura, brother of Chifuyu Orimura and the only male IS pilot in the world, well apart from you." **_ The AI known as Seraph replied.

"So he's her sister..." The male spectator said with an insane grin on his face, "That makes things interesting..."

_**"Warning! Enemy approaching at high speeds! Partner, it's a rogue IS." **_Seraph warned.

Before the person could say anything the barrier of the dome got destroyed by a high powered laser beam. As a result pandemonium ensued and immediately emergency protocols were in play as metal barriers covered the spectator stands to protect them. Then in came the intruder which was a black and yellow IS that began to engage the two IS pilots outside.

_**"Partner, you're not going to help?" **_Seraph asked its owner.

"Why should I? I'm only here to observe for now. Besides let's not forget that we're the world's most wanted targets." The man replied.

_**"Point taken. But what if it gets too much for them?"**_

"If it comes down to that then I'll act. So what's with the rogue IS?"

_**"It seems to have been programmed to come here and attack. Also it has hacked into the systems in the dome, trapping the students and preventing backup from approaching."**_

"Was it programmed by the assholes?"

_**"No, the terrorists had nothing to do with this. It was done by someone else and that person has been able to cover their tracks. Is it possible that..."**_

"I was thinking the same thing, Seraph. It's all pointing towards who I'm already suspecting. Anyways Seraph, override the hack. I have a feeling that we'll be making another appearance soon."

_**"Already on it partner." **_

While the AI went to work, its partner watched the fight keep going on to a point until another unexpected event occurred, a female student showed up at the IS launch platform in the middle of the fight.

"Are you done yet Seraph? Situation's about to escalate."

_**"Who do you think you're talking to? I'm done partner! Overriding that AI's hack was too easy!"**_

"Good! Time to make our appearance."

The Tactical Cloak disabled as the individual deployed his IS and was concealed in a bright light. After the light subsided the individual was now in his IS and he charged into the battle.

**...**

"ICHIKA!... If you're a man… if you're a man you'd better defeat the enemy completely!" Houki shouted out.

This move attracted the unknown IS's attention, and it aimed its arms at her, about to fire. Well it would have fired if not for the overwhelming firepower consisting of grenade rounds, vertical missiles and pulse rifle bursts. The IS' shields didn't stand a chance and the rogue IS was obliterated in seconds leaving nothing but a crater and a lot of smoke.

The three students in the arena and the people watching through the camera were completely astonished, first, an unknown IS had attacked the students during a match, then from out of nowhere the IS that Ichika and Rin were unable to defeat was obliterated in less than three seconds by overwhelming firepower that surprised them all. When the smoke cleared all, everyone looked and had their eyes widened at the sight of another IS they'd never seen before.

A red and black IS that covered most of the pilot like a full body armor, with an intimidating helmet covering the pilot's face. It had large wing like binders on its shoulders, the arms and legs were longer making it taller than a normal IS, large boosters on its back that were capable of unfolding which doubled as missile launchers, a grenade launcher on its back left beside the booster. On the arms were both compartments for another weapon and in the right hand a Pulse Rifle. The most distinguishing feature was the emblem on its shoulder, a solid black circle with a golden-amber **9** imposed over it. That got the attention of a certain person who was in the control room in the arena.

_'Oh kami! It can't be! Of all the IS to show up it had to be it!' _Chifuyu Orimura thought in panic as she saw what was the most wanted IS in the world and its pilot who had caused enough chaos in the world. Immediately she contacted Ichika and Rin to make contact with the IS pilot and stall it.

Maya Yamada noticed the look of panic on her colleague's face and asked, "Miss Orimura, is something wrong?"

"Yes something is wrong! That IS is the one that has gained a lot of notoriety due to the incident known as The Nine Ball Massacre." Chifuyu answered.

"N-n-nine Ball M-m-massacre?!" Maya stuttered.

"Yes. It happened after the second Mondo Grosso. A group of terrorists were slaughtered like cattle by a lone pilot in a red and black IS like the one right there. The real kicker was that the pilot of the IS revealed themselves as a male."

"Meaning that there was another male that could pilot an IS?"

"Yes but what was worse was that it caused nations to point fingers at each other because of the carnage it caused and further reinforced the need for the Alaska Treaty, and now the UN had declared him as the world's most wanted man in the world and put a huge bounty for his IS."

"Miss Orimura what's the name of the IS?"

"Nine Ball."

"What! You mean to tell me that the most wanted IS in the world is here in our school?!"

"Yes that IS down there is Nine Ball and the pilot is a male with a target on his back."

Now Maya was very worried. Their students were out there with a very dangerous IS and an equally dangerous pilot.

"But Ichika and Huang are down there with that person! There's no way they can handle someone like that!" Maya shouted in panic.

"I know which is why I ordered them to stall him until the teachers and Alcott show up." Chifuyu replied in a professional tone though she was very worried about her decision. She hoped that her two students outside would keep Nine Ball occupied long enough for the backup to arrive.

**...**

Back outside, Ichika and Rin were on the ground in their IS and staring at the red and black IS in front of them that was much taller than them and the armor and color scheme made it look very intimidating. After receiving their orders from their superior officer to make contact and stall him, Ichika made the first move and came forward to communicate with the pilot.

"Uh… do you understand me..?" Ichika asked.

Nine Ball's pilot contemplated answering the boy since he knew it could give them a clue to who he was but he also knew that he could prove that he wasn't hostile by talking.

_**"Partner. Whatever you have to say make it brief. I detect multiple signatures on their way. It seems that those two are stalling you for the moment." **_Seraph informed the pilot privately.

_"Yes I've been aware of that since I made myself known to them. Looks like someone recognized me." The pilot replied._

"Yes, I understand you Ichika Orimura and you're welcome." The Nine Ball pilot replied. That surprised the two pilots and those watching.

"H-how do you know my name?" Ichika asked.

"The news, duh!" The pilot replied, "You're all over it kid."

Then Ling stepped in. "Who are you then? Identify yourself!"

"Like you have any right to demand my name brat. Besides I know that you're just stalling me and unfortunately I'm not in the mood to play anymore."

_"Leaving so soon?" _said Chifuyu Orimura through the arena speakers.

"Yes I am, Chifuyu Orimura. That scrap metal over there wasn't even good enough for a warm up so I'm leaving." The pilot replied.

_"I'm sorry but you and Nine Ball are going nowhere!"_

"Sorry to burst your bubble but you have no right to order me around." The pilot replied coldly. He then looked and saw the staff as well as Cecillia arrive on scene in their IS suits with weapons pointed at him.

_"You forget that you're a wanted criminal and that your IS is in violation of the Alaska Treaty." _Chifuyu said, _"You're surrounded. Surrender now and we can end this without incident."_

"How about I say "Screw you" and leave this place with or without bloodshed?" The pilot mocked, "Your call."

"Hey! Do you even have any idea at all who you're messing with?" Rin yelled.

"Nope and honestly I don't give a shit if I even knew. So adieu to you all."

Nine Ball suddenly took to the air and flew out of the arena at a speed they couldn't comprehend and was out of their view before they could even react. Everyone had their mouths gaping.

* * *

**Chapter 1 End.**

**Yes The notorious Nine Ball is here and is more of an IS/AC hybrid as it has a standby mode and shield like the IS and the destructive power, design and insane boosters of the AC. The Nine Ball design used here is the one that is in the PS3 game Another Century's Episode R except with mostly the weaponry of Nine Ball Seraph.**

**Seraph is also the name of the AI of the Nine Ball IS/AC hybrid. As for the pilot he'll be revealed soon and also what he really did to earn his notoriety. And he's not Hustler One or related to the pilot either.**

**Until then read and review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**IS Nine Ball**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Infinite Stratos.**

**AN: Before I begin I'll answer a question from KH-Hardcorefan4483 in his review after the last chapter: Yes the Nine Ball AC/IS will have the chest laser like the ACE: R counterpart but with the cost of some of its shield as a drawback. As for the orbital cannon? I'm still on the fence about that because I don't want Nine Ball to be way too powerful because he can easily slaughter every IS pilot even certain Phantom Task pilots but then Nine Ball has always been an overpowered SOB to begin with, so I digress. Whether I add the orbital cannon or not will be decided soon. **

**Chapter 2**

* * *

**Undisclosed Location**

"You want me to enroll in the IS Academy? Are you fucking insane?"

**"**No I am not insane Mr. Santos. This is a mission for you, I want you to keep an eye on Ichika Orimura."

"And why do you need me to keep watch of Chifuyu's brother and play bodyguard?"

"Phantom Task still have plans for Ichika and even his sister based on the intel we got from a survivor of your last massacre."

"Is that so? Anything else?"

"Also I want you to be properly educated. And before you say that Germany covered that, what I mean is be more educated about the IS itself. You may have created Nine Ball and know the basics but you still need to be more knowledgeable about the IS itself if you want your creation to surpass it."

Santos sighed in frustration. The man talking to him was right. He needed to get more educated about the IS, even if he was a natural born genius that was able to just use the basics and still be a force to be reckoned with. Still he wouldn't have been in this mess if not for certain _people _he knew.

"You know the only reason why I wasn't that educated on the basics was because of those ass hats and the glorified bitch. Let's not forget that they are part of the those greedy bastards out there that want Nine Ball and that woman is a member of staff at the fucking academy."

"I know that. You told me about your story more times than I can count. Besides you can stop hiding and use this chance to prove that you can be just as good if not better than a woman in an IS and also show how inferior the IS is."

"Didn't Ichika Orimura already prove that when they found out he could pilot an IS? Not to mention when he beat that girl from England, Cecilia Alcott?"

"He only messed up the status quot of the world. You however did more than that an IS just as. Or didn't that massacre all those years ago prove that?"

"Yeah, yeah I get your point...You know what? Fine I'll go but if anyone messes with me then they're dead."

"Glad to hear it though I'd advise against killing everyone that pisses you off. You're already in enough hot water as it is and you wouldn't need any more heat on you. Germany can only help you out so much without incriminating themselves."

"Fine..."

**...**

**IS Academy, The Next Day**

_'I so hate you right now Kazuto!'_

As soon as Santos had entered the IS academy campus he had many female eyes on him...ogling him like he's a delicious piece of meat. And it was making him very uncomfortable...

The girls were looking at what they'd call a bishonen with his red hair that looks like blood, black and red eyes that looked like obsidian and ruby and an athletic body.

Nervously the boy waved at them which he was about to regret.

"KYAAA! He waved at us!" The girls screamed with hearts in their eyes.

_'Yes Kazuto! I really, really hate you right now!' _The young man thought. Santos definitely did not want to be in the presence of these girls, ready to pounce on him like predators. _'Exit stage left!'_

The German wasted no time in making himself scarce before the girls got any idea.

**...**

"Hello, I'm Dominick Santos, I'd like to say that I'm pleased to meet you all but that remains to be seen." Dominick greeted the class as politely as he could, though inside he wanted to be nowhere near anyone in this class, especially the crazy girls looking at him right now. He wore the same uniform the male IS students wore but he had on a black and red trench coat over it and on his neck was a necklace with a cross hanging on it.

Chifuyu Orimura, the teacher of the class, thought she was seeing a ghost from the past. She knew who this young man really was. His real name was Shin Kusanagi, and he was the younger brother of one of her good friends Yami Kusanagi, an IS pilot whose skills was on par with her and now a teacher of another class in the IS academy. She knew about the fallout that happened in Yami's family after the reveal of the IS and how the brother violently broke away from the family and was never seen for almost a decade. Now he's back and as a student in the IS academy and also the third male able to pilot an IS with Charles Dunois and Ichika Orimura being the other two males.

But why would he come here? What is his motive? And why the change?

Dominick turned his attention to the two other males in the classroom. _'Ichika Orimura, the one I need to keep an eye on. 'Charles' Dunois? Really?! Nice try but you're not fooling me with that get up, Charlotte.' _he thought as he went to take his seat beside 'Charles'.

After homeroom was over, Chifuyu informed the students to suit up as there were going out for practical training. She told Ichika to show Dominick and Charles to the males' locker room. As they left the classroom Dominick hid the frown on his face as he noticed his teacher's suspicious gaze.

_'Seems that she already recognizes me. Not surprising since she's friends with that bitch. She also suspects that I'm after Ichika. How wrong she is?' _Dominick thought.

**...**

In the practice stadium all the students lined up in different rows in their 'suits'. Santos' was a red full body suit that covered most of his body except his head and hands and also showed off his athletic body to the girls who were eyeing him hungrily, much to his annoyance.

"Is this a recurring theme here?" Dominick asked Ichika.

"You have no idea..." Ichika answered with a sigh before he faced Dominick. "Name's Ichika Orimura. Nice to meet you Dominick. I'm surprised to know of another guy who can pilot the IS." He offered Dominick a handshake. The German shrugged before accepting it.

"Nice to meet you too Ichika. Well I only showed up after my guardian mentioned of another male like me who could pilot the IS and decided to have me enrolled here." Dominick said.

"Orimura! Santos! Get in line!" Chifuyu ordered.

**...**

Rin and Cecilia Alcott were then instructed by Chifuyu to get ready for a mock battle against an opponent of higher caliber. Something that Dominick was eager to see.

"Watch out! Get out of the way!" came a panicked voice from above. Everyone looked up to see a certain green haired teacher coming down erratically...and towards Ichika.

"You heard her! Move it!" For some reason that he had no idea of, Dominick rushed towards Ichika and shoved the panicking human statue out of the way and instead Dominick ended up being crashed on by the falling person.

After the impact and the smoke cleared Dominick shook the dizziness out of his head and then found himself in a quaint position. On top of the green haired woman while his hand was on the woman's large breast.

"Uhm…Santos-san..." Maya Yamada spoke up to the third male IS pilot, "I didn't know that you wanted to be this close with me..."

Dominick quickly jumped as he let go of the woman's breast. "Um...Sorry about that. Won't happen again." he said quickly. Suddenly a beam of light suddenly flew by him from his right side and he turned to see that the offender was Cecilia Alcott.

"That's too bad… I missed." The blonde English girl said with sarcasm drooling all over and a tick on her head.

"But I won't!" Dominick said as he partially deployed a robotic arm which had a Pulse rifle on it and aimed at her. No one attacks him without repercussion!

"Pervert!" Rin yelled out as she combined both her blades and flung them right at Dominick, who responded by shooting the blades away with precise shots from his Pulse rifle, much to the surprise of everyone including a prone Maya Yamada that was about to intervene with her rifle.

_'Such precision and calm. He's definitely no ordinary student.' _Maya thought after seeing Dominick's skill with his weapon.

"I knew that you were about to intervene but it wasn't necessary though I'd give you my thanks for trying." Dominick said to the instructor, then he turned to Rin and Cecilia, "And you two have better be more careful about who you attack!" After issuing that warning he walked back into line and had everyone's eyes on him much to his annoyance once more. "What are you all looking at?! Pay attention to the lesson!"

That managed to get Chifuyu to get things back in swing as she got the duel between Miss Yamada and Cecilia and Rin started.

"Dunois!" Chifuyu called out to the blonde male, "Tell everyone about the IS Yamada-sensei is using."

"Oh, oui...Yamada-sensei's IS is a Rafale Revive from the Dunois Company, my family's company. It's a machine developed at the end of the Second Generation, but its specs rival that of the early Third Generation machines." He explained as everyone watched the battle above them. Maya was easily dodging the shots from Rin's concussion cannons and Cecilia's shield bits.

_'Seraph, you getting this?' _Dominick asked his AI partner.

_**"Of course. In fact I'm gathering data about it and also the Blue Tears the one known as Alcott is using." **_Seraph replied.

_'Good. Keep doing that.' _Dominick said before closing off the link.

"By changing the equipment, it can be configured for all types, including physical combat, sniper role and defense." Charles continued.

Cecilia dodged Maya's shots from her sniper rifle, causing the English girl to unexpectedly crash into Rin, giving the instructor enough time to deploy her grenade launcher and fire a single shot at them, blowing them up and sending them crashing into the ground in defeat and creating a small crater.

"Ow! How could I…" Cecilia muttered.

"She easily read your movements like a book that it's silly!" Rin interrupted.

"Like you're one to talk!" Cecilia retorted, "You're the one who is shooting your weapons like an idiot!"

"You're both pathetic!" Dominick spoke up, irritated by the bickering, "Your non-existent teamwork's the reason why you two got your asses beat so easily! Maybe if you had that you may have had a chance against the teacher."

"Why you..." Both Cecilia and Rin growled.

"What was that? Did I hit a nerve or do you two want a piece of me? If so I won't mind taking the two of you on." Dominick taunted.

"Enough! You should understand the ability of the teachers now. Show some respect." Chifuyu cut in as Maya landed, "Next we will be practicing the IS controls. Divide into groups with those with personal IS as leaders. That includes you Dominick since you could pull off a partial deployment."

With that Dominick groaned in frustration and face palmed as he found himself surrounded by a group of very eager girls all vying for his attention.

"Welcome to the man heap Charles, Dominick." Ichika said.

_'Man heap my ass!' _Dominick thought. _'How about an Amazonian hell?' _Then an idea came to him which he smiled at before looking at the girls in his group.

"You girls want a live demonstration of an IS in action?" he asked getting nods from all the girls, "Well how about I show you how in my own IS?"

_**"You sure you want to do that partner?" **_Seraph asked as the AI had a bad feeling about this action.

_'It's not like I can hide it forever Seraph.' _Dominick replied.

_**"And cue the panic attack and insanity." **_Seraph deadpanned.

Dominick tapped the cross on his necklace and was surrounded by light for a few seconds before he reappeared in his IS and then the reactions came as certain people instantly recognized the IS suit and its familiar emblem.

_'N-n-nine Ball! Santos-san is the pilot of Nine Ball?!' _Maya panicked as she saw the intimidating IS in its red and black color scheme and with its deadly arsenal. The other students moved away from Dominick as his IS also intimidated them too.

"Of all the people to pilot Nine Ball it had to be him...why..." Chifuyu sighed but mentally she was worried about how her friend Yami would take this news, that her younger brother was the most wanted person in the world and the pilot of the most wanted IS.

_'So he's the pilot of the notorious Nine Ball?' _Charles thought, _'If that man knew he was here he'd be salivating right now.'_

"You're that pilot that helped us when that rogue IS attacked?" Ichika asked in shock.

"Yes I am, Ichika. And in case you're wondering the IS is called Nine Ball which I have a feeling a few people here know about." Dominick said. Next thing he knew Maya, Rin and Cecilia now in their IS were pointing their weapons at him. "Really? Do you really want to do this?"

"Well you and your IS are wanted by everyone in the world including the UN." Chifuyu said as she walked up towards Dominick, "And I'd like to know what you're doing here before I have you detained."

"Me? I'm just here as a student in this fine institution, nothing more or less." Dominick replied casually, "And do you really want to risk trying to detain me? You'd only be sending your people to their deaths including putting your students at risk, considering that you know what I can do."

"Are you sure you can take on all the staff in the school by yourself? Even if your IS is powerful you can't take on everyone in the academy." Chifuyu asked with a grin. That grin left quickly when she saw an even more scary grin on Dominick's face as he brought up a hologram that showed the map and a blinking dot on it and the words 'LOCK ON'.

"Of course I can." Dominick replied, "Do you see this? That dot's the IS academy which has been targeted by an orbital cannon that I have programmed already. Try anything stupid and this place becomes a crater."

"You'd actually take us all hostage?!" Chifuyu asked in shock. Everyone else too was in the same boat as her, seeing that someone like him would resort to that.

"I would do it if you don't let me just finish my term as a student here. I don't want to resort to this but you're giving me no other options." Dominick stated, "So here's how it goes down, you let me stay here as a student for the required 3 years without trying anything foolish, we'll have no problem and after 3 years I'm out of your hands. If not then sayonara to you all. And I mean it, I'll know if info about me gets leaked out I won't hesitate to blow this place to kingdom come. Your move."

* * *

**To be continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

**IS Nine Ball**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Infinite Stratos.**

**AN: Just addressing some issues. First being a character that can challenge Dominick and Nine Ball. There will be a few opponents that can challenge Nine Ball, and even give it and the pilot a run for its money. Credit to KH-Hardcorefan4483 for one of the suggestions I intend to throw at Nine Ball. Anymore will be appreciated. Then there's the pairings, Dominick is only going to be paired with one of the ladies. As for the lucky lady, you can decide that. Now back to commencing hostilities!**

**Chapter 3**

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_"Are you sure you can take on all the staff in the school by yourself? Even if your IS is powerful you can't take on everyone in the academy." Chifuyu asked with a grin. That grin left quickly when she saw an even more scary grin on Dominick's face as he brought up a hologram that showed the map and a blinking dot on it and the words 'LOCK ON'._

_"Of course I can." Dominick replied, "Do you see this? That dot's the IS academy which has been targeted by an orbital cannon that I have programmed already. Try anything stupid and this place becomes a crater."_

_"You'd actually take us all hostage?!" Chifuyu asked in shock. Everyone else too was in the same boat as her, seeing that someone like him would resort to that._

_"I would do it if you don't let me just finish my term as a student here. I don't want to resort to this but you're giving me no other options." Dominick stated, "So here's how it goes down, you let me stay here as a student for the required 3 years without trying anything foolish, we'll have no problem and after 3 years I'm out of your hands. If not then sayonara to you all. And I mean it, I'll know if info about me gets leaked out I won't hesitate to blow this place to kingdom come. Your move."_

_**Flashback end**_

Chifuyu did not like the situation she was facing right now. Here the IS Academy was being held hostage by Dominick Santos, a male student in the academy who was also the owner of the notorious IS known as Nine Ball known for the Nine Ball massacre and wanted worldwide for being in violation of the Alaska Treaty. Unless they let him attend the school as a normal student he'd have an orbital cannon that he'd program earlier blow the school clear off the map and take many innocent students with him. As much as she wanted to bring the young man to justice, she still had to consider the ultimatum presented to her. Now it was her move...

She made her move and hoped that she wouldn't regret it.

"Fine. As long as you just attend your classes and not cause any trouble, then NO ONE would reveal any form of information about you or your IS." Chifuyu said, much to the shock of everyone around her. "Yamada, Alcott, Huang. Stand down."

The three mentioned pilots obeyed the order albeit, reluctantly.

Dominick was glad that she made the right move. He may not dislike the older Orimura sibling but considering that she wanted to expose him to the world and try to arrest him and get Nine Ball and Seraph, he wouldn't have any of that. He also knew that Chifuyu was the best friend of that 'glorified woman' and that she knew who he really is. He also knew that she'd most likely tell that woman about his presence here.

"Good move." Dominick said sincerely, "I'd rather wipe out enemies than innocent civilians."

Chifuyu sighed before she ordered everyone to get back to the lesson. The practical session went on without further incident though Dominick could feel the anxiety and the anger of the other students watching him. He paid them no mind as he focused on the class.

**...**

After classes were done, Dominick was walking back to the dormitories while keeping his senses sharp. The other students kept their distance from him out of fear and because Chifuyu had warned them to not antagonize him. He was thinking of how the 'glorified woman' would react if she knew that he was back on the grid and was a student in this school. He also thought about how life in the IS academy would be especially for someone of his status. Then there was Chifuyu herself. Would she actually take his threat seriously or think that he was just bluffing and rat him out anyways? Then there was his mission. How's he to do that with everyone being wary of him including Ichika himself?

_**'How's the glorified bitch going to take it when she hears that you're around?' **_Seraph asked.

_'That's up to her though if I know her, which I unfortunately still do, she'll try to get me to forgive those old pathetic relics and come back to the family.' _Dominick replied, _'And if she knows about my ultimatum she'll try to convince me to be a better person and stop what I'm doing.'_

_**'And what about me and Nine Ball?' **_

_'If she or anyone tries to get their hands on you or Nine Ball I'll kill them all without thinking twice.'_

_**'Will you forgive them though?'**_

_'I'll cross that bridge when that time comes.'_

_**'And what about 'her'?'**_ Seraph asked with disgust.

_'I'll deal with her when she shows up. Odds are that she'll try something crazy like hack the orbital cannon or Nine Ball. Unfortunately I have some countermeasures in place for her or any other moron that tries.' _Dominick answered.

**...**

Dominick was glad that Chifuyu Orimura, who was also the dorm monitor, let him have a room to himself, which he preferred as he'd rather not have a room mate especially any of the rabid girls hell bent on jumping him if they were given the chance. After he was done with properly sorting his things out he decided to head to the dining hall to eat. As Dominick walked down the hallway, he barely noticed a girl with short blue hair, red eyes and a sexy figure wink at him as they walked by while he smirked back in return as he continued his walk. Dinner was a bit uneventful as most of the other students including the males avoided Dominick like the plague and also sent angry glares his way but he paid them no mind since they were not an issue, unless they decide to do something very stupid. Fortunately they didn't.

Dominick returned to his room, satisfied and ready to rest and do some study on Nine Ball with Seraph. What he didn't expect when he turned on the lights was to see the same blue haired girl he walked past earlier sitting on the other bed close to the window giving him a mischievous smile.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Dominick asked in suspicion and annoyance.

"Tatenashi Sarashiki. I'm a second year student and the Student Council President." The girl replied as she stood up from the bed, "I just came here to see the third male pilot that can pilot an IS and I must say you're quite the lady killer."

"Yes I get that a lot from the ladies." Dominick sarcastically remarked while he watched the girl walk towards him, "How did you get in here?"

"Like I said I'm the Student Council President so I have access to the dorm rooms." Tatenashi stated.

"Are you here to seduce me? If so then don't push your luck."

"Aww...I'm just here to talk to the owner of the notorious Nine Ball who has taken the school hostage."

"There's nothing to talk about Tatenashi-san, please leave."

"Maa, maa...there's always something to talk about, right Kusanagi-kun?"

The temperature in the room got dangerously low as Tatenashi found herself glued to the spot unable to move due to the killing intent Dominick sent her way. Next a hand grabbed her throat and she was lifted from the ground by a very pissed off Dominick who stared into Tatenashi's eyes while she struggled to escape his grasp.

"You're treading on dangerous territory, Tatenashi." Dominick growled, "Watch your step or you'd be missing that pretty face, comprehende?"

Despite having her throat in his grasp Tatenashi managed to nod to show that she got his warning. After that Dominick tossed her away from him towards the exit.

"Now leave! Before I change my mind." Dominick said while leaking more killing intent which was enough to get the blunette running out of his room and closing the door.

_'How the hell did she know my old name?' _Dominick thought. He then brought out his data pad and began looking at the data in it. "Seraph."

_**"Yes, Partner?" **_The AI asked.

"Dig into the academy database and find everything about this Tatenashi Sarashiki. Also check on the firewalls to ensure that security measures are still working and you and Nine Ball are not compromised."

_**"On it! Anything else?"**_

"Nothing else."

**...**

**Next Day...**

Everyone was in class and the atmosphere was tense due to the presence of Dominick who was on his seat ignoring the looks from everyone in the classroom. Thanks to Seraph he had gotten information from the AI about Tatenashi Sarashiki which surprised him as he did not expect it to be the same one from long ago. He also heard of a new student showing up today. What he did not know was that this was someone he'd be happy to see again. And speaking of a new student...

"Um...well, I'm pleased to announce that we'll be having another transfer student here." Maya nervously stated.

In front of the class was a girl with silver hair, one eye covered by an eye patch and the visible one being red. She wore the IS uniform more like a military getup. Dominick's eyes went wide in realization of who this girl was and a grin came on his face.

"Introduce yourself, Laura." Chifuyu said to the new student.

"Jawhol, mentor." Laura said, then she faced the class, "I am Laura Bodewig."

"Um...Is that all?" Maya asked.

"Yes." Laura replied and then she looked at the class until her eyes stopped on Ichika. She walked up to the younger Orimura who looked confused at why she came to him. And then...

*SLAP*

Ichika got slapped by the silver haired girl gaining gasps from the girls and Maya, raised eyebrow from Dominick and Chifuyu and enraged looks from Houki and Cecilia.

"I will not!" Laura began, "I refuse to accept you as her brother!"

A scoff came after that. "As if you can do anything about it, soldier."

Laura looked around for the person who said it and her eyes widened in shock when she saw a red haired, black and red eyed male stand up with a stern look on his face. Someone she hadn't seen for some time.

"M-m-major?!"

"Yes, it's me, soldier. Now stand down!"

"But-"

"What was that, soldier?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all, Major."

"That's what I thought."

**...**

Did she hear that right? Dominick is Laura's superior officer? Chifuyu Orimura was very confused by what had just transpired in the class. Laura just slapped her brother Ichika and more than likely earned the wrath of all the girls in the academy, then Dominick admonished her like a superior officer does. Seems that there are more things about Shin or Dominick than she knows. Either way she pushed that aside for now and got order back in the class. She'll need to get answers from Dominick and get Yami to meet him soon.

* * *

**Chapter 3 End.**

**Dominick is Laura's superior officer in the army and even more.**

**Looks like Tatenashi knows something about Dominick that the Nine Ball pilot doesn't like and the guy himself recognizes her from way back.**

**Read &amp; Review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**IS Nine Ball**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Infinite Stratos.**

**Chapter 4**

* * *

It was break time and Dominick and Laura were on the roof as the superior officer talked with his subordinate.

"What the hell was that about?" Dominick asked in a cold, stern tone. "When did I ever order you to start harassing civilians at random?"

"But Major, he-!"

"ENOUGH!" Dominick yelled, making Laura go silent. "Is this because Miss Orimura forfeited her match at the second Mondo Grosso all those years ago to rescue her brother when he got kidnapped? If so, then drop it! She did what any sibling would do for another! No one abandons their family, well except if you're those fools called the _Kusanagis._"

Laura meekly nodded as she saw the pained look on her superior's face and she knew why. The Kusanagi family was a sore subject to Dominick. Behind the door to the roof, Houki, Rin and Cecilia heard that too and wondered what happened between Dominick and Yami-sensei's family. Then they saw something that shocked them as Dominick hugged the German representative contender while sincerely smiling.

"Glad to see you here, I missed you my love."

Laura returned the hug herself as she replied, "Ich auch meine Liebe. Ich auch."

Well that got the girls wide eyed as they couldn't believe what they heard. Dominick and Laura were a couple? What in the world! Worse they are both soldiers in the German Army. What else is next?!

"So how's the Schwarzer Regen doing? Hopefully you haven't messed it up." Dominick asked as he got serious again.

"It's in pristine condition, Major Dominick." Laura replied.

"That's good to know. If something goes wrong in anyway, let me know so that I'll deal with it."

"Jawhol, Major."

Then the school bell rang for the students to return for classes. Houki and the others quickly left.

"We'll continue our talk another time, Laura."

"Yes, we will, Dominick."

**...**

Class went on as usual, except that the girls were glaring at Laura and Dominick, for obvious reasons. Dominick ignored them since they were insignificant to him. Laura ignored them too though the female soldier found them annoying to her. After class was over they went to the cafeteria where Dominick and Laura got a seat for themselves and had their supper and once more all eyes were on them.

"Dominick, why are they looking at us like that?" Laura whispered to her boyfriend and superior.

"Well you did slap the only boy apart from me that could pilot an IS." Dominick said in a low tone which got the German scratching the back of her head sheepishly. "As for me, well that's because I'm holding them hostage."

"Huh? Hostage? Why?" Laura asked in shock.

"Well I'm the most wanted person in the world, actually tied with _that woman._ And I pilot the most wanted IS known as Nine Ball." Dominick answered nonchalantly. "I just wanted a break from killing terrorists and being on the run from the UN for so long. Of course your mentor tried to have me arrested so I had to force my hand."

"That's a little uncalled for. And will also get you in even more trouble."

"Like I care. The world now has become a cluster fuck of rubbish thanks to the reveal of the IS by _you know who_. No offence to you but the women in the world think they're so high and mighty because only they could use the IS and now the emergence of Ichika Orimura, not to mention me and Nine Ball, has caused panic in their ranks and also caused greed as the males now want the kid so as to even the playing field. Not only that, the Alaska Treaty is nothing but a joke. It's thanks to it that Phantom Task is able to do as they please and I'm doing UN's job of removing those pieces of trash from the face of the Earth."

"Hmmm, I see. But what about your..._family_?" Laura asked while bracing herself for an angry rant.

Dominick coldly answered,"The old relics and the glorified bitch are dead to me as far as I'm concerned. They wasted all their time dotting and glorifying the bitch because she could use an IS. They gave her everything but gave me nothing but ridicule and a living hell. Then when I leave the bitch has the galls to try and contact me and 'mend bridges'. As if!"

"I see. Sorry for asking."

"Don't be Laura. Besides I can't wait to see the glorified bitch when she finds out that I'm the pilot of Nine Ball. It'll be a riot."

Laura had a chill go up her spine as her boyfriend began having some crazy visions in his head.

"Anyways enough about those wastes of space, how about we do some training with our IS?" Dominick said happily, "Also you should apologize to Ichika tomorrow. Alright?"

"Jawhol. I'll do that."

**...**

Rumor had been going around talking about Dominick and Laura being a couple. Some found that hard to believe while some actually saw it as possible as both were not liked by the students for different reasons. Dominick because of his taking of their school hostage with an orbital cannon and Laura because she slapped Ichika Orimura. Fortunately the dislike for her didn't last long when she apologized to the boy in the class which he accepted. However the heat was still on Dominick which didn't bother him.

The next day the students were given time to train for the class tournament coming up instead of going for lessons. The big surprise was that the matches are team based too meaning that students had to get partners for it. Dominick and Laura used it as the opportunity to train with their IS in one of the practice arenas. They weren't the only ones there as Ichika and Charles were also there too for practice and so were Houki, Rin and Cecilia.

Laura was in her grey IS suit while Dominick was in his red IS suit as they stood across from each other.

"Ready, soldier?"

"I'm ready, Major!"

**[Play- Nine Ball Theme, Armored Core series.]**

With that both deployed their respective IS, Laura in her Schwarzer Regen and Dominick in Nine Ball. Then immediately they sprung into action.

Dominick zoomed across the arena at insane speeds while firing barrages from his pulse rifle and grenade launcher. Laura used the AIC to stop the barrage when she could and dodge the rest since Nine Ball's speed far surpassed the Schwarzer Regen and his attacks were insane. She created enough distance and fired the rail gun at Dominick which he easily dodged by boosting to the side and returned fire with a pulse rifle burst which was nullified by the AIC. Then Dominick boosted towards Laura with his Moonlight laser blade at the ready. Laura was just about to use the AIC to stop him when he abruptly changed direction and boosted around to her back and got slashed from behind.

"AAHH!" Laura yelped and she saw her shield go down by 250 points.

"Don't rely on the AIC too much Laura. While it's useful in its own right it can still be beaten when you're fighting multiple opponents since you have to focus on one target, when dealing with someone who can fake you out and maneuver around you or someone who can escape it with powerful boosters." Dominick advised as he boosted away.

"Jawhol, Major!"

"Also not every attack can be stopped by the AIC, like for example a rail gun or continuous fire. Save your AIC for one on one combat and when they don't have a rail gun."

Dominick then went airborne and fired multiple missiles from his vertical missile launcher, forcing Laura to ignition boost to avoid most of the barrage. After that she charged at him and engaged in close quarters combat with her dual laser blades. Dominick simply defended with his Moonlight blade.

Everyone was now watching the intense sparring match as Ichika, Charles, Houki, Rin and Cecilia, and the other students came in to watch Laura's Schwarzer Regen in action against Dominick's Nine Ball. They were obviously in awe and easily saw why it was infamous after all as Laura was forced on the defensive from the relentless firepower and insane speeds of Dominick's IS.

"Wow! Dominick's really good and his IS is crazy fast and powerful." Ichika said.

"Amazing! So that's the power of the notorious Nine Ball." Charles said in awe, "I hope we don't have to fight against Dominick at all in the tournament. Even now he's holding back against Laura."

Ichika gulped at that. If Dominick was holding back this much against Laura and still dominating, imagine how it would be if he went all out.

"I already have an idea of how it'll turn out if he was serious, it'll be a massacre." Ichika stated in fear.

The three girls shivered in fear when they heard the two boys' statements. Just how powerful is Dominick and Nine Ball? Could he even be a match for Chifuyu Orimura herself or even Yami Kusanagi, an IS pilot that's just as good as her?

The sparring match soon ended as Laura was finally overwhelmed by Dominick and her IS was unresponsive. Dominick came up to her and shook her hand.

**[End music.]**

"Hey, don't feel down because you lost." Dominick tried to cheer her up.

"How can I? You're definitely stronger than I am and Nine Ball is a superior machine." Laura replied, "I was already outmatched from the get go and you held back a lot."

"So what if I did? This was just a sparring session to get a feel for our IS. Especially when we're going to be partners in the class tournament."

"R-really? You want to team up with me?"

"Of course. What? Is that a problem soldier?"

"No problem, Major! Just surprised that's all."

"Good. Let's take a break then."

**...**

In the control room, Chifuyu, Maya and a blonde woman in her early twenties had just finished watching the sparring match between the two students and they were amazed by the capabilities of the notorious red and black IS piloted by Dominick Santos.

"So you couldn't get any data on that IS?" Yami asked Maya.

"No, I couldn't get anything at all. I was locked out from getting anything." Maya replied in frustration.

"Not surprising. Dominick doesn't want anyone to gather any data on Nine Ball." Chifuyu said, "Not to mention, he was holding back a lot in that spar. If this was a real match he'd have won within seconds."

"So Dominick's an extraordinary pilot? Interesting." Yami muttered.

"And he's apparently Laura's superior officer." Maya added, "Just how well do we know about Dominick Santos?"

"Not a whole lot. But I intend to find out." Chifuyu said.

"So do I. Besides for some reason he seems very familiar." Yami added.

_'You have no idea Yami.' _Chifuyu thought. "We'll have a talk with them later today."

**...**

Later in the evening Dominick and Laura were called to the faculty room by Chifuyu Orimura. Laura had no idea why but Dominick had a good guess. When they entered the room, they found Chifuyu, Maya and then a third woman in the room, a very familiar person too, and it made Dominick growl in anger while the woman gasped in shock and recognition. Laura gave Chifuyu a blank look that said _"Really? You just had to pull this?"_

"Shin-chan?"

"Hello _glorified bitch_!"

* * *

**Chapter 4 End.**

**Uh oh! Shit's about to hit the fans as Yami Kusanagi finally meets her brother after almost a decade. How will this go down? **

**Read &amp; Review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**IS Nine Ball**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Infinite Stratos.**

**Chapter 5**

* * *

**Previously on IS Nine Ball...**

_Later in the evening Dominick and Laura were called to the faculty room by Chifuyu Orimura. Laura had no idea why but Dominick had a good guess. When they entered the room, they found Chifuyu, Maya and then a third woman in the room, a very familiar person too, and it made Dominick growl in anger while the woman gasped in shock and recognition._

_"Shin-chan?"_

_"Hello glorified bitch!"_

**...**

Tension was in the air as Yami Kusanagi stood across from her estranged younger brother Shin Kusanagi, who'd changed his name to Dominick Santos. The older sibling had been trying to mend fences with her brother ever since he violently parted from the family but Dominick wanted nothing of it. The words _glorified bitch _made her feel terrible since it was almost true too. Her parents glorified her because she could pilot the IS but she sure as hell wasn't a bitch as she didn't let the praises go to her head and had tried to help her brother deal with the abuse and ridicule. Unfortunately he reached his breaking point and the rest is history.

"Shin Kusanagi!" Chifuyu yelled at the younger Kusanagi sibling, only to be blasted by some much killing intent that she barely kept from passing out. Maya was already at that point and Yami was the same a Chifuyu. Laura was only able to withstand it because she had experienced it before back in the German military.

**"My name is DOMINICK SANTOS! **_**Shin Kusanagi died the day those fucking power hungry relics thought they could trade him off like some commodity!**_**" **Dominick yelled back in an almost demonic tone before he dropped the killing intent.

"What do you mean by that Shin-chan?" Yami asked and getting a cold look aimed at her.

"I mean that your _oh so great and loving parents_ that glorified you like you were the best thing since sliced bread tried to use an arranged marriage to get rid of me and gain more power!" Dominick replied coldly, "The lucky or unlucky bride to be was Tatenashi Sarashiki."

"The school council president?" Maya asked in surprise.

"Yes. I was to be forced into a marriage that I had no interest in and when I made it clear that I wanted nothing to do with such marriage they decided to go for more drastic measures." Dominick said as he presented a hologram showing a chip.

"What's that chip for?" Laura asked.

"This was meant to be planted into my head to make me into a mindless drone and marry Tatenashi for their power play. Unfortunately for them I overhead their pathetic scheme and let them know my anger at that by blowing them sky high."

"That can't be true. That can't be..." Yami began to argue.

"Well guess what? It is true you glorified bitch!" Dominick silenced her, "To think that you'd defend those relics even after I told you what they planned all those years back, I'm even more disgusted at the sight of you!"

"What about you? You became the pilot of an IS that's in violation of the Alaska Treaty, butcher a lot of people and worse you take the school hostage!" Yami countered.

Dominick scoffed, "So? The Alaska Treaty's a fucking joke. Why do you think Phantom Task is able to do whatever they want? As for who I've been 'butchering', they're Phantom Task members of course. They even once asked me to join them, but I turned them down and decided to rather exterminate them like the vermin they are. As for the Nine Ball massacre, that was result of them killing cousin Maria Santos and her husband who took me in and even got me into the German military, all because I turned down the terrorists' invite. And since then I've been on a war path killing and destroying any presence of those pieces of garbage. And as for the academy I actually wanted a break from it all."

"Where did you get Nine Ball from?" Chifuyu asked, "And why can't we get any data on it?"

Dominick had an intimidating grin on his face as if he expected her to ask that question.

"Simple. I designed and created Nine Ball for me and only me to use. So don't even bother asking for data on it or even try hacking it since I have a nasty surprise for any moron that tries."

That shocked the three older women in the room while Laura wasn't bothered about it.

"You created that monstrosity? What were you trying to prove?!" Yami demanded.

"Simple. To prove that I could pilot an IS just as good if not better than you as an IS pilot." Dominick hissed, "Then those relics would regret their idiotic move all those years ago."

"That's it? You're doing all this for petty revenge? You're pathetic."

"The pot's calling the kettle black, glorified bitch!"

"Enough you two!" Chifuyu yelled, "I got you two here so that you can mend bridges between the family instead you turn it to a pissing match."

Dominick scoffed at his teacher, "There's no point bringing me here to begin with. All this was a waste of time. As far as I'm concerned the Kusanagis are dead to me just as I'm dead to them."

That caused Yami to gasp in shock as she became hurt by her brother's words and tears were coming out of her eyes. Dominick didn't show any remorse for his words as he stared blankly at his _sister_ before turning to Chifuyu.

"If there's nothing else, me and Laura will be leaving to practice our team work." Dominick said as he and Laura got up and were about to leave.

"Hold on. How do you know Laura?" Chifuyu asked once more.

"I knew her through cousin Maria's husband who was in the German military. When they saw me and the power of my IS they got me into the same unit as Laura. While we worked together we ended up developing feelings for each other and soon became a couple." Dominick answered as he gave his silver haired, eye patch wearing girlfriend a one armed hug. "In fact in after we graduate from here, we're getting married."

"What?! No you can't do that!" Yami argued, "But what about Tatenashi?! She's-"

"I'll deal with her later! But I'll make it clear for you glorified bitch, I love Laura and she loves me and we're going to get married whether you or those relics like it or not!" Dominick snapped. "Laura, we're done here."

The German nodded as she hold on to her fiance's arm and they began to leave.

"Oh sorry to inform you Dominick but you'll not be participating in the team tournament." Chifuyu said, stopping the couple in their tracks.

"WHY?!" They asked.

"Even without data on your IS, just based on that sparring match alone, The Nine Ball is much superior to every other IS here, even the personal machines of the representative contenders. If we let you compete it'll be unfair to the other participants." Maya said.

"Of course it is. I made it to be like that. Superior to the damned IS that caused this societal power crap, no thanks to that _crazy, egocentric woman_." Dominick replied in disgust, "Even so that's not a valid reason to stop me."

"What about the guests from different countries, companies and even the UN? If they saw Nine Ball, it'll cause chaos considering both you and your IS' notoriety." Chifuyu said, "Not to mention that they'll try to arrest you right there and then."

"Not to mention that Mother and Father will be there too and they won't be too happy to see you." Yami added, which elicited a crazed grin from Dominick once more.

"Then all the more reason to participate so that I can rub it in their wrinkly old faces and leave a surprise for them." he chuckled before he and Laura left the room, leaving three surprised women behind.

**...**

"Are you sure it's a good idea to participate?" Laura asked her fiance in concern. "Not like I'm against it but what if what they said about UN representatives being there is true?"

"I'm a student here. And thanks to one of the IS Academy rules, no one can do anything about me as long as I'm a student here." Dominick answered, "After three years then they can bother themselves but by then we'll be married and Germany will no doubt keep the UN and other nations off me since they have my back."

Laura sighed, "I know but I'm still worried about what is bound to happen when you participate in the tournament."

"We'll cross that bridge together when that happens, Laura. So don't stress yourself out." Dominick said. Suddenly he felt two soft mounds on his back and two arms came around his chest as he was hugged from behind by some woman/girl.

"Alright, who is it that's brave enough to approach me like this?" Dominick asked in annoyance while Laura gave the blunette hugging her boyfriend the death glare telling her to back off.

"Hello again Shin-kun!" said a playful Tatensashi.

"Tatenashi. You have ten seconds to get off me before I or Laura become very violent." Dominick said.

"Mou...you're no fun!" The blunette pouted, "You never show me any affection, but you have no problem being close to Bodewig-san here."

"That's because I'm his fiancee you schlampe!" Laura snapped, stunning the blunette before she quickly recovered.

"Ara? I'm sorry, can you repeat that? I thought I heard something ridiculous from you kohai." Tatenashi asked in a sickly sweet voice.

"Do you need hearing aid Tatenashi? If so let me say it again, Laura is my fiancee whom I'll marry when we graduate from the academy. Got that?" Dominick stated.

Tatenashi's eyes grew wide at that statement. "W-W-What?! What do you mean by that? I thought that we were going to get married."

"No, we weren't going to. It wasn't even meant to be arranged to begin with." Dominick replied, "You may have thought that I had feelings for you but I never did. Sure I saw you as a friend but not beyond that."

"But didn't your parents say that you-"

"Those pathetic relics lied to you! All that was part of their ploy to gain more power Tatenashi!"

"!?"

"Here's some advice tell your parents to cut their ties with the Kusanagis and fast, because they are nothing but trouble. If you don't believe me then look at this." Dominick took out a small disc from his pocket and put it in the Russian's hand. "That contains everything you need to know about why they can't be trusted. When you finish with it, show it your parents too so that they can know what I'm talking about. Have a nice day."

With that said, Dominick and Laura left the hallway with a confused Tatenashi looking at the disc the boy gave her. Deciding to see the truth for herself she left the hallway too for her room.

**...**

After revealing their relationship to Chifuyu, the woman gave Dominick and Laura their own room. Sitting on a chair was the former Kusanagi, still fuming about his meeting with his older sister. How dare she question his motives? The glorified bitch was so naive about her great _parents _that it pissed him off even more. One day he'll have to open her eyes to the truth of it all! Whatever, no point in thinking on it too much as he and his fiancee had a tournament to win tomorrow.

The sound of water stopping got his attention. Coming out of the shower was his fiancee, with nothing but a towel wrapped around her body and without the eye patch on her left eye, which was glowing yellow. She saw her love sitting on the chair in a bad mood which saddened her as she didn't like seeing him this way. So she walked up behind him and snaked her arms around his neck which calmed Dominick down and made him smile a little.

"Thanks Laura. I needed that." Dominick said.

"Are you alright Dominick?" Laura asked.

"I'd be lying if I said I was. Seeing Yami again brought back bad memories." Dominick answered truthfully and sighed. "I also can't stand her naivety too."

"What do you mean?"

"She has no idea about the true nature of the so called _parents _that dotted on her and glorified her."

"Maybe so, but weren't you a bit harsh with her back then?"

"No, I was being blunt and serious with her. She still thinks that her _parents_ can do no wrong. If she could open her damn eyes for once she'd see the truth."

"I see." Laura just hugged Dominick, pressing her breasts against his back. "But what about Tatenashi? Do you think that it's a good idea to give her that disc?"

"It is." Dominick answered, "She and her family are good people and while I may have been an ass to her, I'm not heartless to not reveal something to her that could affect her and her family badly. It's for the best anyways."

"That's...very considerate of you, Dominick."

"Yes, I know. People tell me that a lot. Well let's go to bed, we have a tournament to win and some people to shock."

"Jawhol!"

**...**

The day for the tournament came with many excited for it as the girls saw it as a chance to get to date Ichika Orimura. However many were also angry because the pilot of the IS Nine Ball, Dominick Santos, was going to be participating. Also Ichika, Charles, Houki, Rin and Cecilia, and those that watched the spar earlier between the male and female soldiers were scared and hoping to not face the team of Dominick Santos and Laura Bodewig, mainly because of the insanely powerful red and black IS/AC hybrid piloted by the male. While Laura's Schwarzer Regen was a formidable machine in its own right with its AIC for stopping attacks, the massive rail gun on the shoulder, guided tethers for restraining foes amd heat blades on both arms for close quarters, it was still not the same as the Nine Ball which had already been proven to be a force to be reckoned with thanks to its own deadly arsenal and its insane capabilities. Plus there's still more about it that they don't even know of yet, which makes it even worse. Unfortunately for Houki and Rin who were matched up together as a team, they were going to face that terrifying team in the first round.

Inside the arena the spectators which included representatives from multiple countries, IS production companies, the UN and other groups like the Kusanagi Foundation which had both Saito Kusanagi and his wife Kirche Kusanagi in attendance awaited the first match of the team tournament between team A that consisted of Laura Bodewig of Germany and the new student known as Dominick Santos also of Germany, and Team B that consisted of Houki Shinonono of Japan and Lingyin Huang of China, all first year students at the IS academy. Houki was in the basic Uchigane and Rin was in her Shenlong awaiting their opponents or according to their classmates, their impending doom. Laura first flew into the arena in her Schwarzer Regen and landed across for them, then the one everyone had been waiting for arrived in its full glory as Dominick flew into the arena in the red and black death machine known as Nine Ball. That shocked the representatives in the guest stands especially the UN and Kusanagi Foundation as they now saw the notorious IS that had made a mockery of the Alaska Treaty and messed with the current societal norm.

The two Germans sized up their opponents across from them and decided to get the show on the road.

"So how we deal with them Major?" Laura asked.

"Divide and conquer, Laura. You take Miss Shinonono while I'll deal with Huang since she's the bigger threat." Dominick replied in a serious tone.

"Jawhol, Major!"

**"Both teams ready? BEGIN!"**

_**"Target Verified. Commencing Hostilities!" **_Seraph said as the battle...or massacre began.

* * *

**Chapter 5 End.**

**Dominick and Yami have said what they wanted to say. He's also given Tatenashi some info that would be a possible eye opener to the truth. What it is is anyone's guess.**

**Next chapter would be the tournament and some more damning revelations.**

**Read &amp; Review and if you don't like what I'm writing then what the hell are you still doing here?!**


	6. Chapter 6

**IS Nine Ball**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Infinite Stratos.**

**Chapter 6**

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**Previously on IS Nine Ball…**

_The two Germans sized up their opponents across from them and decided to get the show on the road._

_"So how we deal with them Major?" Laura asked._

_"Divide and conquer, Laura. You take Miss Shinonono while I'll deal with Huang since she's the bigger threat." Dominick replied in a serious tone._

_"Jawhol, Major!"_

**_"Both teams ready? BEGIN!"_**

**_"Target Verified. Commencing Hostilities!" _**_Seraph said as the battle began._

**…**

Tatenashi was upset. No upset was too weak to describe her mood. She was outright enraged and was looking for something or someone to break. Other students wasted no time getting out of her way least they drew her wrath. As for why she was enraged she had a very good reason for that and it had to do with what she received from Dominick Santos.

_**Flashback, Last night**_

_Tatenashi looked at the small disc that Shin/Dominick gave her earlier. She also wondered about why he said that her family should cut ties with the Kusanagis. Why did Shin-kun she knew hold such a grudge against his own family? The disc definitely holds the answers since he gave it to her._

_When she got back to her room she got out her laptop and put the disc in the drive and then began to read the information on it. What she found out proved to be a shocker for her: what she was seeing was basically part of the black book of Saito and Kirche Kusanagi._

_They were allies with Phantom Task! They provided funds and information on IS and other things with their vast information network and even helped the terrorist group with easily doing whatever they wanted. They were also power hungry monsters with delusions of grandeur. The disc also contained their resentment for Shin because of his inability to pilot the IS unlike his older sister Yami they held in high praises, and how much of a failure he was as their child. Initially Saito wanted the son to go through a sex change operation but Kirche wanted no part of that. But that was nothing compared to what they had planned for Shin before he left the family with a bang. The arranged marriage between him and her was a plan to get rid of the Sarashikis who had been fighting against Phantom Task ever since they showed up. He was to be implanted with a mind control chip and used to secretly take out the family and give the fortune to the Kusanagis. Tatenashi herself was to also have a similar chip implanted in her so as to get a powerful IS pilot for the terrorist group. However that plan was scrapped after Shin found out what they had planned and tried to kill his parents but he didn't get the job done. Apparently Yami Kusanagi was innocent in all this as she had no knowledge of what her parents Saito and Kirche had planned. After the failed murder attempt, Saito and Kirche more or less disowned Shin and put a hit on his life. _

_Then comes the IS Nine Ball who had put a dent in a lot of their plans due to the massacres of Phantom Task members and destruction of their bases. The Kusanagi family had used their info network to find out who the pilot is so that they can find him, eliminate him once and for all and gain his powerful IS which far surpassed every IS in the world, but so far they've come up with nothing but more deaths of their allies and a threat from the pilot, one Dominick Santos who has vowed to ruin them for good due to their connection with the murders of his cousin Maria Santos and her husband Colonel Marov Santos. Now the Kusanagis are in a race against time to find this pilot before he destroys them for good._

_Tatenashi was unable to think for a while after reading all that before she blacked out on her bed._

**...**

With all the evidence she's gained thanks to Shin/Dominick, Tatenashi definitely intends to let her parents know about their so called 'friends' so that they can cut their ties with them and ruin those monsters too. Tatenashi also felt sorry for Miss Yami Kusanagi as she was innocent of everything and for Shin/Dominick because he had been turned from the cheerful, confident, and intelligent boy she knew back then into a dark avenger who won't stop until his parents and Phantom Task were annihilated once and for all. Now she made a vow of her own: to get Dominick back to the boy she still has feelings for, even if he's already betrothed with someone else.

**...**

**IS Arena 6, IS Academy**

The first match between the Team Dominick Santos and Laura Bodewig and the Team of Lingyin Huang and Houki Shinonono was best described as a one sided beat down or massacre to some. Houki had no answer for Laura as her Schwarzer Regen easily overwhelmed the Shinonono's Uchigane with her powerful rail gun and AIC. Dominick's Nine Ball did a huge number on Huang's Shenlong as the IS/AC hybrid overwhelmed the 3rd generation IS with its superior speed, flight and firepower. The Shenlong's impact cannon didn't help as Rin couldn't land a hit on Dominick who basically zoomed around her and pounded her with his weaponry. Close range combat was no better as Dominick was just as deadly there as he was at mid and long range with his Moonlight saber, which the Chinese representative found out the hard way.

Overall a flawless victory for Team A but an empty victory for Dominick Santos as he felt unsatisfied with that easy win.

**...**

**Guest Seats, with Saito and Kirche Kusanagi**

The CEO of the Kusanagi Foundation and his wife had finished watching the first match of the class tournament and like the other guests here they were surprised to see the notorious Nine Ball in the IS Academy but for them they had their most hated enemy too.

"So Dominick Santos is a student at the academy huh? What do we do now?" The brunette, Kirche whispered to her husband.

"Nothing." Saito answered.

"What do you mean by nothing?! We know where he is and we can get him eliminated once and for all."

"He's a student here so we can't touch him at all until after three years. UN's also in the same boat here as they want him just as badly as we do but the rules won't let them."

"Why not just inform Phantom Task of his presence here and let them go after him?" Kirche suggested.

"Are you stupid? Haven't you seen the power of his IS and also the carnage he's created? All we'll be doing is sending our allies to their deaths." Saito instantly shot the idea down. "No, we'll bid our time and strike when he's vulnerable."

"Bid our time? You do realize that he has our 'black book' and it's only a matter of time before he ruins us."

"You think I don't know that? Also he hasn't published that info yet. He seems to also be bidding his time too. Waiting for us to slip up before he drops the hammer on us or he has something else planned too. We have to tread lightly and wait for him to slip up and then we'll pounce."

"We could use Yami to deal with him. She's a teacher here and she could help us to get dirt on him and also get him out of school so that it'll be easier to take him down and gain Nine Ball for ourselves."

"I know that but I'd rather not involve our daughter in our problem. She's made something for herself and made us proud parents. Better for her to not be exposed to any blow back if things fall apart."

"You have a point...So we just bid our time?"

"Yes, we'll bid our time and make our own moves."

Unknown to the couple, a certain man sitting a few feet from them had overhead them and was shaking his head.

_'So the Kusanagis are beginning to get desperate huh? How comical that the one child that they threw out has became the bane of their existence and has them by the balls. Too bad they'll still be done for at the end.'_

**...**

**Arena Hangar**

"That was a good match Major. We were fantastic out there." Laura said in excitement.

"Yes we were great out there, though I wished that they'd given us a better challenge. It was too easy for us." Dominick said.

_**"No kidding, partner. That was pathetic." **_Seraph added, _**"But the result was obvious from the get go. No way in hell would I lose to an IS."**_

_'True. I made Nine Ball to completely outdo an IS. Although so far we've been dealing with 2nd and 3rd generation IS. I'd like to see how Nine Ball would do against a 4th generation IS.'_

"Well what do you expect when you're piloting an IS like Nine Ball which far surpasses 2nd and 3rd generation IS." Laura said, "What about a 4th generation IS?"

"That I'd like to see. Hopefully a 4th generation IS would give Nine Ball a challenge." Dominick commented.

"It looks like the UN reps are not happy with the sight of you and Nine Ball. They obviously want to bring you in right now but the rules of the academy has their hands tied."

"Ha! Pathetic! They still don't know anything. They only want Nine Ball for themselves since I'm a male that can pilot it. They're just using the excuse that it's in violation of that garbage Alaska Treaty to justify their idiocy. Instead of dealing with problems like the Phantom Task and their allies they're wasting their time on me and Nine Ball."

"Well if those schwachkopfs try anything stupid there'll be hell to pay and I'll be more than happy to give them that one way trip to hell, meine Liebe." Laura said with conviction.

"Oh, I know that you will, Laura." Dominick agreed.

_**"And when they do try something stupid, hell hath no fury..." **_Seraph inputted.

_'No kidding Seraph. And I know that first hand.'_

**...**

The semi-final match was a lot different as the team Laura and Dominick faced comprising of two girls, who had much better team work but they still fell to the overwhelming firepower of the two German soldiers. The opposing team knew about Laura's preference for long range attacks and ignored Dominick's all round abilities because he was a male and so in arrogance they decided to focus on the female German before going after her more well rounded team mate, which proved to be a bad move as Dominick reminded them that he existed and was the bigger threat as he covered for Laura while brutally beating the crap out of them before both girls were finished off by Laura's rail gun. That match made the spectators cringe and pale as they saw Dominick's brutality and the unfortunate girls had to be taken to the infirmary due to that same brutality.

Now it was the finals and it was Laura and Dominick against Ichika and Charles. A match up many were eager to watch but also one that was dreaded by many at the same time. Chifuyu being one of those who dreaded this as she knew that Nine Ball was a monster and even with Ichika's trump card he and Charles would be hard pressed against its pilot Dominick. Of course many of the representatives were not happy at the sight of the IS that far surpasses other IS and was in violation of the Alaska Treaty. Not to mention the pilot who was a male and had a vendetta with the Kusanagis.

Dominick looked at his opponents and smirked. Charles Dunois was in his IS Raphael Revive Custom, while Ichika was in his IS Byakushiki. He knew about both IS due to Seraph getting the info on both before he joined the academy. Charles' IS had good armor and a lot of firepower but not as much as Nine Ball and he had the Shield Pierce weapon which was a dangerous melee weapon that could really dent shields. Ichika's IS only had one weapon which was the sword Yukihara and it was a deadly weapon due to its one off ability that is a bane to many IS, it allowed it to do crazy damage to IS but it used up its own shield for such an attack. But even with that knowledge Dominick knew he'd better not get arrogant, but right now he was too eager to get this show on the road. He was fighting Chifuyu's brother, Ichika.

"So how do you want us to do this Dominick?" Laura asked.

"You deal with Ichika. I'll take on Charles." Dominick answered, "You sure you've gotten over your anger toward him?"

"I'm sure. I no longer hold a grudge against him, Major."

"Good to hear because I don't need you going crazy and looking for blood."

"Same for you. You're getting battle crazy or you're already there."

Dominick rolled his eyes. That was true. He always loved the thrill of a fight and when he began piloting Nine Ball he became battle crazy especially when fighting a worthy foe. It was a mindset that Laura had tried to get him out of but with little success.

"I won't. I just want a good fight that's all." Dominick said.

"I know and that's what I'm worried about." Laura sighed.

Ichika and Charles stared at their opponents but they were mostly intimidated by Dominick and Nine Ball. With what they've witnessed so far, Nine Ball far surpassed an IS on so many levels. It had superior mobility, firepower and defenses and was good at all ranges. Not only that the pilot was very skilled which the two boys had witnessed when he decimated his opponents in the matches. Also there was also Laura who seemed to be his subordinate and also skilled with her Schwarzer Regen. Then there was their great teamwork as they operated like a battle hardened unit, which they were not far off from.

"What's the plan of attack, Ichika?" Charles asked.

"They're a strong team, Charles. Their teamwork's good and they cover for each other well." Ichika responded, "However we know about Laura but Dominick's still an unknown since he hasn't shown his full power yet."

"How can you tell?"

"The way he's been fighting. He's been holding back because no one has been able to push him yet and I have a feeling that he'll go all out because it's me. I'll take Dominick while you handle Laura. If you can take her out first then we'll stand a better chance of beating Dominick."

"Are you sure Ichika? This is the pilot of Nine Ball we're talking about."

"I know that but cowering in fear won't help us any better."

The buzzer sounded to signify the start of hostilities. Ichika wasted no time charging at Dominick and began attacking with slashes with his sword only to hit nothing as Dominick easily dodged the attacks. At the same time Charles was doing his best to avoid Laura's tethers that tried to grab him.

"Change of plans, Ichika's mine while you deal with Charles." Dominick informed his partner.

"Got it Major!" Laura said as she fired her rail gun which Charles had to dodge.

After some more dodging Dominick got bored and parried Ichika's next attack with his Moonlight saber and came back with a powerful counter that Ichika barely defended against before Dominick kicked him out of his space. Ichika managed to recover in time only to end up being on the defensive once more as Dominick attacked with bursts from his Pulse rifle. Ichika dodged for a while and then charged at Dominick with his sword poised to strike but had to break off his attack when Laura fired a round from her rail gun at him. Before she could follow up she was intercepted by Charles who fired a barrage from his twin machine guns forcing the German to dodge.

Ichika took to the air and was immediately pursued by Dominick who fired grenade rounds from his grenade launcher and then bursts from his pulse rifle. Ichika found himself in a tight spot as he had to dodge the explosions and the laser bursts from his opponent. Dominick pressed the attack by launching missiles instead of grenade rounds at the male Orimura which added to his problems as he now had to dodge multiple missiles and laser bursts. He continued dodging the barrage for a moment and then suddenly ignition boosted towards Dominick expecting to catch the Nine Ball pilot by surprise with the Yukihara's special attack.

_As if._

Dominick dodged the attack at the last second shocking Ichika as he flew past him exposing himself to a grenade round that exploded and sent him crashing to the ground, leaving him in a crater.

"So predictable." Dominick said, "You better come up with a new trick because that's one getting old fast."

Ichika managed to get up and cursed as he saw that his shields had dropped a lot from that attack, and he looked up to curse even more as he found himself dodging a missile barrage from Dominick once more. Dominick pressed his attack while interchanging between missiles and grenade rounds until he was forced to dodge Charles who came at him with his Shield pierce weapon. He growled at him and fired his pulse rifle at the French pilot who put up a riot shield to take the barrage and charged at Dominick. The Nine Ball pilot quickly switched to his Moonlight and parried the shield pierce and responded with an overhead slash which Charles blocked with his shield. The Frenchman was then forced to back off as Laura attacked with her twin heat blades. Then Ichika came out of the blue with an attack on Laura but was stopped by the German's AIC and held in place. Before she could fire her rail gun she got blindsided by a rifle shot from Charles forcing her to let go of the AIC. Ichika tried to capitalize on the off balanced Laura but Dominick stepped in to stop him and both locked blades together before they separated from each other.

"How are your shields Lieutenant?" Dominick asked.

"Not too bad no thanks to Dunois' Shield Pierce." Laura reported, "No way can I engage him since he also has ignition boost like Ichika and he used it to surprise me before he hit me. I barely got away before he cornered me and continued, what other tricks does he have?"

"Some more since he has more experience than Ichika." Dominick said, "Let's switch targets. I've got Ichika's shields down a bit and he's an easier target for you than Charles. So he's all yours. But first, a gun salute for them."

"Jawhol, Major!"

With that the Germans fired a barrage of missiles and rail gun shots at their opponents forcing Charles and Ichika to split up before the Germans went after their new targets as Laura engaged Ichika and Dominick engaged Charles.

Nine Ball and Rafael Revive Custom pilots engaged in a heated shootout that entertained the spectators as both guys were attacking fiercely but were unable to hit each other due to Charles' shield and Dominick's boost dodges.

"You'll need more than that to beat me Charles." Dominick taunted, "And here I thought I'd be given a much better challenge than the other opponents. You and Ichika are both starting to bore me."

"Oh don't write us off yet Dominick. We still have some tricks up our sleeves." Charles warned.

"If that's so then what the hell are you waiting for?! Bring it on!" Dominick roared.

Charles switched to his shotgun and fired at Dominick which were still being dodged but with a lot more difficulty due to the spread shots and still got hit barely a few times. Charles then managed to feint Dominick to dodge too early and then charged into him as fast as possible with his shield, sending him flying towards the wall, much to shock of everyone including Laura and Ichika. Charles then charged at him with the shield pierce and connected, however Dominick managed to recover his wits and got out of the way. Seeing his advantage Charles switched to his shotgun and began to press his attack. People began cheering for Charles as someone was finally able to do damage to the Nine Ball for the first time in years.

_'Not bad! Looks like he's managed to actually hit me.' _Dominick thought as he checked his shields and found that it had dropped from 1000 to 505 much to his shock and then anger, _'Alright that's it! Playtime's fucking over! Seraph!'_

_**"Yes partner?" **_Seraph called out.

_'Activate __the Nine Overdrive system__! It's time to unleash hell!'_

_**"Are you sure? You haven't even tested it yet. Who knows what it could do to you?"**_

_'Well no one has given me a reason to until now! This is also a good time to test it too.'_

_**"And if things go too far?"**_

_'Do what you have to do when that happens!'_

_**"Alright. **_**_Nine Overdrive System activated_**_**. I'll be holding the fort."**_

As Dominick activated the Nine Overdrive System, Charles rushed at him with his Shield Pierce ready to attack once more, as he got closer Dominick smirked as he closed his eyes and let the Human Plus upgrade take effect and then suddenly a red and black energy field surrounded him forcing Charles to stop his charge and back off. Laura and Ichika even had to stop their fight and look at the energy field. While Ichika was confused about what was going on, Laura was concerned for her fiance as she had a bad feeling about what was going on.

The audience looked on in interest and fear as they all wondered what was going to happen next and some had a feeling it was going to lead to an event worse than the Nine Ball Massacre.

A few seconds passed and a big shock wave erupted along with a blinding light, after the field came down forcing everyone to shield their eyes. When the light finally died down everyone gasped in shock as they all saw something they did not expect.

_'What the hell is this?!'_ Charles thought in shock.

_'Dominick...what did you do?' _Laura thought in worry.

_**'I hope you know what you're doing partner.' **_Seraph thought.

* * *

**To be continued...**

**Chapter 6 End.**

**Cliffhanger!**

**What has Dominick done and how are things going to conclude?**

**Find out next chapter.**

**Read and review and leave whatever suggestions or opinions you got! Flames will be deleted!**


	7. Chapter 7

**IS Nine Ball**

**AN: I originally wrote that this transformation was a result of Human Plus but when I read this chapter again and saw a review involving it, I realized that it didn't make sense so I changed it to the Nine Overdrive System instead. This time it's just a big time boost to Nine Ball, almost like an incomplete Second Shift that Dominick installed but never got to test. I hope this rewrite makes more sense than what I used earlier.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Infinite Stratos.**

**Chapter 7**

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The stadium was silenced as they saw what came out of the energy field that had surrounded Dominick and his Nine Ball during the finals of the team battles.

All they saw was Dominick in an IS that looked like a knight in crimson red armor, with spikes on the shoulder plates to add to the intimidation factor and his skin was onyx black with glowing green lines around flowing all over him. The rocket and grenade launchers were behind him but were somewhat bigger, the pulse rifle was still there and instead of one Moonlight saber there were two. An intimidating red helmet covered Dominick's face.

Charles tried to hold his ground but really he was scared of what he was looking at. It's as if he'd unleashed a monster that should have been left alone and now he was dead meat. Oh he had no idea how correct he was. Ichika was very scared for Charles and himself and Laura was worried for her fiance and also upset because she knew what had done.

_'Why did he have to use that damned Human Nine Overdrive System?! He hasn't even tested it yet!'_

The crowd was looking in awe, fear and shock at the match as they had a feeling that shit had officially hit the fans and things were about to get chaotic. Yami was very worried for her brother, wondering what he had done to himself. Maya was freaking out and Chifuyu was groaning in frustration as she could see another Nine Ball event about to take place and she decided to get the staff ready just in case.

Dominick looked at Charles with an insane grin as if it was his birthday already. He also felt the rush of power flowing through him and he loved every bit of it. Looks like there were no problems with Human Plus so far. He had made Human Plus for him to use with Nine Ball when he needed to push past his limits in battle and he hadn't gotten a chance to test it out because of UN chasing after him and dealing with those Phantom Task roaches. Now would be a time to test Human Plus now and if things go to hell he's given Seraph the go ahead to pull the plug.

**"Hope you didn't wait too long Monsieur Dunois. Now the fun really begins."**

"Uh oh!"

**"Uh oh indeed! You're dead meat now!"**

Charles suddenly put his riot shield up as Dominick began an unrelenting assault with his twin Moonlights. He was moving at an insane speed and attacking ferociously. The shield was barely holding back the insanely powerful and fast blows. Charles had no chance to counter as he saw none to begin with. The attacks increased in pace and Charles found it hard to keep his shield up until Dominick got tired of it and decided to end it.

**"You're boring me already..."**

Then in one swift motion Dominick viciously swung both swords and destroyed the riot shield. Luckily for Charles he barely avoided the attack too. Dominick had a feral grin as he saw Charles materialize twin SMGs.

**"Still trying to delay the inevitable? Okay I'll play." **Dominick said.

"The battle isn't over yet." Charles bravely fired back, "Don't expect this to be easy Monsieur Dominick."

**"I'm not. I'm expecting this to be a MASSACRE!" **

With that Charles fired his SMGs and moved quickly while Dominick just weaved through the hailstorm with ease at even more insane speeds while keeping his feral grin on and aiming his pulse rifle at him.

**...**

Laura and Ichika had basically stopped fighting as they were now watching Dominick and Charles fight and needless to say it didn't take much for the German girl to know who was going to win that fight especially with one of them now much powered up and insane. Laura saw that feral grin on his face and she knew that that man fighting Dunois was not her Dominick! That was a sadistic monster who was only playing with his food.

"Ichika." Laura turned to the younger Orimura, "We may have to postpone our fight."

"Uh why?" Ichika asked.

"In case you haven't noticed Charles is only delaying the inevitable!" Laura yelled at him, "In fact Dominick or whoever that is, is only toying with him right now!"

"What makes you think so? Charles had him on the ropes earlier and even now Dominick's just dodging right now." Ichika argued.

"That blood thirsty monster's only toying with him! Haven't you noticed that he's powered up now?! Charles is not only going to get defeated, he's going to be a bloody mess too! And after Charles who do you think he'll go after next?"

Ichika gulped, "Me?"

"Congratulations for actually getting that right." Laura deadpanned.

A pained scream got the two to end their competition as they saw Charles fly past them and imprinted on the wall. His IS was smoking and some armor parts were gone and he was bleeding. Immediately Chifuyu gave the order to get a medic for the French student and told security to stand by for action.

"Charles!" Ichika shouted.

"You moron! Don't get distracted!" Laura yelled at him.

**"You should listen to her advice Ichika or else you'd end up in worse pain than him." **said a very sadistic Dominick whose weapons were smoking after that barrage that defeated Charles. **"Such a shame that he's still alive, oh the agony of defeat! But there's a silver lining to it, I can still play with him another time!"**

"Dominick! That was uncalled for!" Ichika yelled pointing Yukihara at Dominick.

**"You seem to forget that this is a battle, and one that I intend to win. Now to put an end to it!" **Dominick said before turning to Laura, **"You did well holding your ground against him, Lieutenant. I'll be taking over from here now."**

"No." Laura responded.

**"Excuse me?"**

"I said no Major! That's one order I cannot follow. Besides you're not my superior, you're a monster!"

**"I'll be with you in a moment Ichika." **Dominick said before he turned to Laura, **"Lieutenant Laura Bodewig...Are you disobeying an order from your superior officer?" **

"You're no superior officer! You're just an impostor pretending to be him! The Dominick I know wouldn't go this far and has much more restraint!"

**"You obviously aren't paying attention to what's going on."** Dominick said dryly. **"I don't care if Ichika here ends up a bloody mess, I don't care if Charles over there dies because of his injuries. This is a fight. I know it, you know it and our opponents know it and you know I intend to win it!"**

Balking for a second, Laura quickly got over her shock. "That may be so but this is just a school tournament not a mission. And I know that you know the difference between such cases."

Dominick shook his head in annoyance. She was just stalling him and he was getting tired of it.

**"Laura..." **he said in a neutral tone with a hint of warning in it. **"You're either with me or against me. Think carefully about your answer."**

"Well I'm not going to let you cause needless death here. You're much better than that!" Laura shouted in reply.

There was a brief silence before Dominick faced Laura completely which scared the her and Ichika as they felt the murderous intent coming off from him.

**"Is that your final answer?" **"Yes it is Major!" **"Good. Then here's my response."**

Before anyone could react Dominick aimed his pulse rifle at Laura's head, but as he was about to shoot Dominick's body suddenly jerked and he howled in pain as he held his forehead with his free hand.

**"AAAARRRGGHH! What the hell?!"**

_**'That's enough partner! I'm pulling the plug now before you do something you'd regret!' **_Seraph yelled at his mind.

**"Not yet! It's not over yet! Once I take down Ichika this match will be over and we'll be victorious!" **Dominick said out loud.

_**'Maybe so but not at the risk of outright butchering someone! Enough's enough partner!'**_

**"Damn you Seraph!"**

Dominick screamed in agony as sparks erupted around his body and he stepped back. He looked at Laura as the helmet over his face opened up. Laura gasped as she saw the pained look in his eyes and saw the silent message.

'Help me!'

Then some kind of red energy began to engulf Nine Ball but before it completely covered him Dominick threw his pulse rifle at Laura which she caught. She wondered why he did and saw that the ID recognition had her on it to indicate that she could use it but why?

Then the energy dispersed as it left a red figure that took the shape of a demonic knight in full armor in its place.

**"Emergency! All matches are suspended! Situation's at level D. Teachers are to deploy to suppress the enemy! All guests and students, please evacuate! I repeat!" **The voice of Chifuyu thundered all over the area through the speakers as barriers immediately shielded the dome, trapping Ichika and Laura within the arena with the red monster. It was also then that the red monster took them by surprise and attacked very quickly with its grenade launcher sending Ichika flying towards the wall, taking out his shields and getting knocked out and the same for Laura except she slid along the ground before stopping on her back in pain.

The red figure simply looked at Laura before it walked towards an unconscious Ichika whose IS had now entered standby mode. A pulse rifle like the one it had earlier materialized in its arm as it got closer. Before it could raise its weapon, laser and gunfire rained down on it forcing it to evade as a woman in a platinum IS came down. It looked like the Blue Tears IS except it had a dragon emblem on its chest and dragon shoulder armor. The pilot was wielding a laser rifle in one hand and a machine gun in the other. The pilot was none other than Yami Kusanagi herself.

"That's enough Shin! Your rampage ends here!" Yami shouted at the figure that was her brother.

The red figure simply stared at her while within the mind of Dominick he remembered the conversation his parents had with each other before his explosive exit.

_"So we're going to marry that failure of a son off to the Sarashiki heiress?" Kirche asked her husband. A 12 year old Shin Kusanagi was inside the ventilation shaft above the study were his 'parents' were talking._

_"Yes we are but he's also going to serve another purpose." Saito said with a grin, "He'll be our little pawn in getting rid of them too. Too long they have been a bane to our allies Phantom Task. It also helps that the Sarashikis are good friends of us."_

_"At least he'll be useful for something." Kirche sighed, "Why did the failure turn out to be a boy and not a girl? At least Yami's making us proud while that failure is just dragging our names through the mud." _

_"Bastards. It's Yami this and Yami that! But I can't believe that these two are allied with that terrorist group!" Shin muttered to himself._

_"Though how is he going to get rid of the Sarashikis?" Kirche asked._

_"Simple. With this control chip." Saito said as he showed his wife a small chip, "Before they get married we'll implant this chip in that failure's skull and program him with his mission. He'll then put the same chip in Tatenashi to put her under our control and then after her family is gone we'll get her to transfer all their wealth to us."_

_"That is a diabolical scheme you have here...And I love it!"_

_"And so does our friends at Phantom task. Well then let's go check up on Yami and then we'll break the news about the arranged marriage with that failure." _

_The two parents left the study. Shin was still in the vent and he was enraged at what he heard._

_'So those two bastards think they can use me for their greedy and vile goals. Worse they want to destroy our friends the Sarashikis. Well no way in hell is that going to happen. I'll make sure of that.'_

_When he snuck back to his room, someone knocked on the door, he answered it to see the glorified bitch herself Yami who was smiling at him. A smile he wanted no part of as all he saw was a spoilt and naive bitch. He slammed the door on her and locked it while telling her to fuck off!_

The red figure dashed at Yami and swung its sword at her which she dodged and she responded with a barrage from her projectile weapons which the figure easily dodged around and he returned the favor with burst fire from its pulse rifle. This dance kept going on for a short while as the figure sliced Yami's guns in two and she had to use her twin laser blades to block its sword and ending up in a deadlock. Yami gritted her teeth as she struggled to hold off the red figure.

"S-Shin-chan! Snap out of it!" Yami tried to talk him down. The figure tilted its head to the side before it applied even more pressure.

Laura struggled to get up as she watched the small battle between her fiance's sister and whatever her fiance became. Fortunately the cavalry came as teachers in their IS suits flew in and surrounded them as the red figure broke off from the deadlock and looked at them in disinterest.

Charles was stabilized and carried out of the arena. Ichika had just woken up and had a concussion while Laura was winded from the last attack. She walked past the medic with Dominick's pulse rifle, ignoring the medic as she approached Yami.

"Yami Kusanagi." Laura called out to her, getting the woman's attention.

"Laura-san? Why are you still here? You shouldn't be here. We have the situation under control." Yami scolded.

"That's my fiance there and he needs my help. You people are only going to get slaughtered, especially you Yami."

"And what makes you think so?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you. Especially a woman who did nothing when her brother was being abused and ostracized by his family while enjoying the praises rained on her."

Yami fell silent as Laura walked past the shocked woman towards the red figure.

"Laura! Are you trying to get killed?" Yami asked.

"No. I can still pull off a partial deployment. I'm going to help Dominick, my superior officer and my fiance, my liebe." Laura stated.

"How?"

"Watch me!"

Laura partially deployed the right arm of her IS which held the pulse rifle and she got into a good distance before calling out to the red figure. "Hey you! Give me back my Dominick you dumpkoff!"

The figure turned and looked at Laura, then it shook its head and was about to ignore her but the German would have none of that.

"Don't you dare turn your back on me you dumpkoff_!_" Laura yelled. "You and me! Right now!"

The figure turned around and stared at Laura and this time paid attention to her. It nodded at her and she smirked at it. She then removed her eye patch revealing her glowing eye. She lowered the pulse rifle to her side which the figure did too.

_'That's right! A quick draw contest! Let's do this you cheap fälschung!'_

A few seconds past as the two stood across from each other while everyone else looked on in tense anticipation. Suddenly Laura narrowed her eyes and focused on her opponent.

_"Ziehen!" _

Laura raised her weapon at her foe before it did and fired a burst at it. The pulse bursts ripped into the figure leaving holes in it. And then, the red figure started to ripple and dissipate, revealing an unconscious Dominick in his IS suit. He would have fallen onto the ground if Laura hadn't caught him.

"Willkommen zurück Dominick." Laura whispered to him.

* * *

**Chapter 7 End.**

**That's the end of that chapter. That was crazy too. Did you like the conclusion of that? Leave your reviews and constructive criticism. No flames will be considered. Just ignored and deleted. **


	8. Chapter 8

**IS Nine Ball**

**AN: Sorry for taking so long to update as it took me a while to get inspiration to continue this story but I finally got my drive back to continue this and my other stories. And before I begin things are about to get crazy. You have been warned!**

**Now back to business…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Infinite Stratos.**

**Chapter 8**

* * *

**Previously on IS Nine Ball…**

_The figure turned around and stared at Laura and this time paid attention to her. It nodded at her and she smirked at it. She then removed her eye patch revealing her glowing eye. She lowered the pulse rifle to her side which the figure did too._

_'That's right! A quick draw contest! Let's do this you cheap fälschung!'_

_A few seconds past as the two stood across from each other while everyone else looked on in tense anticipation. Suddenly Laura narrowed her eyes and focused on her opponent._

_"Ziehen!" _

_Laura raised her weapon at her foe before it did and fired a burst at it. The pulse bursts ripped into the figure leaving holes in it. And then, the red figure started to ripple and dissipate, revealing an unconscious Dominick in his IS suit. He would have fallen onto the ground if Laura hadn't caught him._

_"Willkommen zurück Dominick." Laura whispered to him._

…

"So I'm to kill him now, right?"

"That's right. But first find out where he's hiding the data and also get a hold of his IS."

"Also kill anyone who gets in your way, even if it's a student. Just make it look like _he_ did it. He's already a wanted man so it would be understandable."

"Alright then. Get the data and the IS before killing Dominick Santos. Kill anyone who gets in the way and make it look like he did it."

Unknown to the three people plotting and giving orders to their assassin, another person was listening in on their conversation and needless to say he wasn't happy about what those people were up to.

'_So they want to kill Dominick, steal Nine Ball for themselves and get the black book to save face? Well that's not happening on my watch even though there are copies of that black book already made and ready to be sent to the right people. Anyways, time to put a monkey wrench in their plan.'_

…

Dominick woke up to see himself lying on a bed, still in his IS suit and figured that he was in the school infirmary.

"You're awake. Thank goodness!" Laura said getting the boy's attention.

"Hey…I'm glad to see you too." Dominick said. "How long was I out?"

"It's been two and a half hours since we had to stop the class tournament all thanks to that stunt you pulled with Nine Ball." Chifuyu said as she got up from her chair and walked in front of Dominick.

"Nice to see you too sensei." Dominick deadpanned.

"I don't have time for your games Santos! Right now I want answers about what happened down there in the arena and why you nearly killed Dunois and my brother!" Chifuyu said.

"Simple. I tried to use a certain function of Nine Ball that I had not been able to test since running from the UN, bounty hunters, corporate assholes and slaughtering Phantom Task bastards took up a lot of my time." Dominick answered, "A function that allows me to boost my abilities with Nine Ball when needed. Unfortunately thanks to it being untested and my hunger for a good fight it nearly turned disastrous. By the way how are 'Charles' and Ichika?"

"Lucky for you both have recovered from their injuries." Chifuyu answered which got a sigh of relief from the Nine Ball pilot.

"That's good news. The last thing I want is to kill my own classmates and add more fuel to the fire." Dominick said.

"Not to mention that it'll give the UN more reason to get Nine Ball out of your hands." Laura added, "What you did was reckless and stupid. It's a good thing I'm a good shot and I bailed you out of that mess."

"Yeah…And I'm grateful for that, Laura."

"Speaking of the UN…Dominick, they want you to give up Nine Ball when you've finished your term here." Chifuyu stated.

Dominick growled, "Like hell I'll do that! Nine Ball is MY creation. Not those fools at UN, the fucking Kusanagis or that Tabane! SO none of you have any right to demand such from me!"

"Well considering what happened the UN are more than convinced that Nine Ball is a major threat to National Security and of course a major violation of the Alaska Treaty." Chifuyu said.

"You mean that joke of a treaty?" Laura scoffed, "That piece of paper has done nothing but created an arms race between the nations to get a weapon like the IS for themselves and also lets groups such as Phantom Task run amok easily!"

"If anything I blame that crazy bitch Tabane for causing this situation. Thanks to her unveiling the IS she caused a power vacuum to occur which created a bullshit status quo, all for her own fucking ego!" Dominick said.

"I'd watch what you say about the creator of the IS, Santos." Chifuyu said coldly, not tolerating Dominick bad mouthing her friend even if said friend was very eccentric and sometimes insane.

"What? I'm only saying it as it is. Whether you agree with me or not isn't my problem." Dominick replied unfazed by the glare the older Orimura was giving him. "Besides she's not the most liked person in the world just like I am. Thanks to her some people have had shitty lives all because of that damned creation of hers. And by the way I and Orimura aren't the only males who can pilot the IS."

Before Chifuyu could ask her question the door to the infirmary was smashed off the hinges as the door flew into the wall along with a man laid out on it. She spun on her heels while Laura stood protectively near Dominick and both looked at the person on the broken door who was barely conscious. The man had brown hair, was at least 5'11" tall with a slim build and was wearing a doctor's outfit who looked to be in his early thirties. However a few feet from him was a suppressed PP7 and a syringe gun and broken container that leaked out its content.

"What do we have here?" Dominick said as he moved towards the bedside to see who the man was and instantly recognized him. "Oh it's the Kusanagis' butler and personal hitman Lindow Meyrick. Let me guess they sent you to get _it _and kill me and everyone else in the room right?"

"What?!" Chifuyu gasped while Laura glared at the assassin. The aforementioned Lindow was about to reach for his gun when blood spurted out of the reaching arm causing him to yelp in pain.

"Don't even think about it assassin…" said a deep male voice. Then a man with white hair, red eyes, and pale skin that towered above everyone in the room, wearing an all black combat attire and wielding a suppressed SOCOM pistol walked in while keeping his aim at the bleeding assassin. The man looked to be in his forties but his muscular body begged to differ.

"J? What are you doing here brother?" Dominick asked in surprise.

"Brother?!" Laura and Chifuyu said at the same time.

"Nice to see you too Dominick..." J said, devoid of emotion, "As for why I am here, the boss asked me to intercept this pest after he overheard the Kusanagis giving him orders to kill you and anyone else with you and then grabbing the _Black Book_ and Nine Ball from your corpse." He then double tapped Lindow and ended him permanently.

"So the relics made their move huh? Big mistake for them." Dominick said as he climbed out of the bed. "Though you could have just knocked him out so that we could use that against them instead."

"You know that the Kusanagis are good at covering their tracks. So they could easily disprove it but the boss already has enough dirt to expose that along with the Black Book." J stated.

"Good point."

"Hold on! Who are you and how do you know my student?" Chifuyu asked, "And what do the Kusanagis have to do with this?"

"You heard your student say my name already and I don't like to repeat myself. As for my relationship with him, he was my student in combat, tactics and piloting that thing you women prided yourselves on until your brother was able to break the status quo." J said.

"So you're an IS pilot?" Chifuyu asked.

"Do I need to answer that?" J asked, "And as for the Kusanagis they are not the great people that they advertise themselves as. They tried to have Dominick here killed and anyone else with him too as collateral damage just to cover up their dirty laundry. They are scum that need to be exterminated."

"Except to Yami. That naïve, glorified bitch still doesn't see the truth about her _wonderful parents _and will need a really harsh wakeup call to get it through her skull." Dominick said.

"I find that hard to believe Dominick. You're still bitter about how your parents treated you and you're taking it out on your sister." Chifuyu countered.

"You mean the same parents who have ties with terrorist scum like Phantom Task? The same ones who tried to dump me in an arranged marriage just to use me to gain more power? The same ones who just tried to have me killed to cover their dirty laundry with you and Laura here being collateral damage? You want to hear more Chifuyu Orimura? I can keep going." Dominick countered.

"I still find it hard to believe Dominick. Yami has loved you like any sibling would and has always wanted her brother back and all you've done is spat in her face and blamed her for your suffering."

"Is that right? If she did love me she would done all she could to put a stop to the suffering, the neglect and the abuse but instead she did nothing but bask in all the praise and glory. So don't be surprised why I want nothing to do with the glorified bitch. Everyone has a limit to how much bullshit they can take before they reach that limit and it all explodes. I reached mine after five years of that shit."

"Still you shouldn't pin it all on Yami. Give her a chance."

"When she opens her eyes I'll do that. C'mon Laura."

"Yes Dominick." Laura said as she followed Dominick out of the infirmary. After they left J looked at Chifuyu.

"What you want to believe does not matter to me but I advise that you open your eyes and see the behind the veil of corruption in this world." J said before he went to pick up the dead body, "And as for this, keep it between those that were here since you don't want an event to break out and have to run damage control." He then walked out with the body leaving Chifuyu to have to get people to fix the door and clean up the blood.

…

"So that man was the one who trained you? I thought it was your uncle that did." Laura asked Dominick as they were now back in their room. They had gone to see Ichika and Charles or 'Charlotte' as Dominick wanted to apologize to them. Of course while the discovery of the Frenchwoman's identity had been shocking to both Ichika and Laura, it wasn't to Dominick as he already knew who she was to begin with but kept it to himself.

"My uncle did train me but after he and his wife were killed by Phantom Task scum, J found me, saved my life and decided to continue my training." Dominick said. "Quite the sadistic teacher he was too but I'm grateful for it, and it was from him I got my hunger for battle."

Laura sighs and puts a hand over her face before she removes it and becomes serious.

"He's like me Dominick. Someone who was artificially bred for battle."

"I know that Laura and yet he's the older sibling I wish I had instead of the one that is still around. And how did you know that he's a super soldier like you?"

"It's something people like me can sense. Like I can tell that your body was augmented."

Dominick smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "That obvious huh? I hoped to tell you about that later."

"I'd rather you not hide something like that from me Dominick." Laura said sternly.

"Sorry about that. Won't do that again." Dominick said. "Anyways I'd like to get back to work on Nine Ball so that that incident doesn't occur again."

"I'm joining you and don't even think of stopping me." Laura said.

Dominick sighed, "Fine…"

…

"So mission accomplished?"

"_Yes…the assassin has been eliminated…my former student and your 'investment' is still intact."_

"That's good to hear, J. We can't have those foolish parents of his getting in the way of our plans. And what about the body?"

"_On its way to the Kusanagis along with your message…So what's next?"_

"Carry on with putting down Phantom Task while I'll deal with destroying those fools from the Kusanagis."

"_Phantom Task…So I'm to exterminate those pathetic insects…whatever!"_

**...**

Next day came and it started off interesting with 'Charles' being reintroduced to the class as Charlotte and nearly getting Ichika killed in the process by Rin if not for the timely intervention of Laura and Dominick. After Chifuyu managed to restore order to the class things went on back to normal. Except with the exception of Yami Kusanagi still trying to mend bridges with Dominick or Shin and failing pretty badly as he ignores her completely but she refuses to quit. Then the summer holidays came around and the students got ready for that.

…

Meanwhile at the Kusanagi residence, things were not looking good for Saito and Kirche as they had gotten a package meant for them and they opened it to see their assassin in pieces and a message saying "Congratulations! You fucked up!"

"Lindow failed?! How?!" Kirche asked in panic.

"I have no idea…" Saito replied calmly, though he was sweating, "He should have been successful but somehow someone got to him."

"_I can answer that Saito and Kirche Kusanagi!"_

The two turned to their flat-screen TV which was somehow switched on and they saw the silhouette of a man on it.

"Who the hell are you?!" Kirche asked.

"_Someone you clearly pissed off with your stupid assassination attempt on my investment." _The person on the screen replied.

"We have no idea what you're talking about." Saito replied, "Besides do you realize who you're messing with? We have many friends who can easily ruin you and erase you from existence. We just have to give the word and you're finished.

"_Oh really…well that's too bad as I have evidence that says otherwise…" _Then a familiar recording played:

_"So I'm to kill him now, right?" _

"_That's right. But first find out where he's hiding the data and also get a hold of his IS."_

"_Also kill anyone who gets in your way, even if it's a student. Just make it look like he did it. The man's already a wanted man so it would be understandable."_

"_Alright then. Get the data and the IS before killing Dominick Santos. Kill anyone who gets in the way and make it look like Santos did it." _

The recording ended and the Kusanagis paled.

"_So you were saying that you had no idea huh? And about your many friends well what would happen if they and your wonderful daughter heard this? Not to mention the shit storm that'll happen if they saw your Black Book. Yes! I have your dirtiest secrets with me, one of them being your association with the terrorist group Phantom Task and I also have many copies ready to be sent to everyone including the UN. All thanks to the son you threw away because he couldn't pilot the pathetic IS."_

"So that failure Shin is still alive! Where is he?!" Kirche demanded only to get laughter in return.

"_Wow! And here I thought that you two couldn't get any stupider. You're in no position to demand anything from me!"_

"Name your price then." Saito said.

"_Excuse me?"_

"Name your price. You want money right? Power? Favors? We can easily give you all that and pretend this never happened. In return just tell us where that failure of a son is so that we can _deal_ with him and give us what belongs to us."

Once more there was laughter from the man on the screen and it went on for five minutes before he stopped. Then what he said next became the final nail in their coffin.

"_Sorry to bust your bubble but I already have power and all the money I want! Besides I've already had that recording and the contents from your Black Book sent off to numerous people. Dominick Santos did say that if you two tried something that you'd get exposed and then destroyed and well…you fucked up now! So enjoy being exposed for the villains you are and ruined for all eternity. So have a nice day as piss yourself in fear and pray to whatever deity you worship."_

With that the TV went off and the Kusanagis were left stunned, speechless and terrified for their lives.

* * *

**Chapter 8 End.**

**Well looks like the Kusanagis fucked up and are now going to pay the piper. Or are they?**

**Two characters from Armored Core Verdict Day make an appearance and they have a role to play in the story. What that is…I'll leave to your imagination!**

**Anyways read and review and throw out your opinions.**


	9. Chapter 9

**IS Nine Ball**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Infinite Stratos.**

**Chapter 9**

* * *

Summer had come and the IS Academy students were giving the time off to enjoy it. Many of them had been looking forward to the summer vacation as it was their chance to relax and have fun after all the crazy stuff that had happened at the academy. Dominick was glad for it as he got the chance to spend more time with Laura. The same could be said for his German fiancée too as she also wanted to take advantage of this to be with her man.

Well not everyone was having a chance to enjoy this summer moment. The Kusanagis were not enjoying the summer as for one the parents were already being investigated by the UN due to the damning information they had received from an anonymous source and Saito and Kirche had already been caught and were now in the custody of Interpol as they tried to flee from the country from their private airfield. News of this had spread around the world like wildfire as the prestigious Kusanagi Family were exposed!

Yami however could not believe what had been revealed and was in shock and denial at the evidence that had been presented. To think that her parents were in cohorts with Phantom Task, it was just unreal for her. She was lucky that no one had attempted to arrest her as her parents defended her saying that she had nothing to do with anything, however that did not save her from the public ridicule she got from people outside the academy. Now she was now beginning to feel like a fool in thinking about how wrong Shin was about her parents and she could bet that he was laughing his way to the bank.

…

'_Why the hell am I here again?' _Dominick thought as he groaned in misery. Why do you ask? Simply because he was shopping for swimsuits with Laura for the summer trip to the beach resort and Dominick was NOT liking this one bit. Laura however was joyous as she got to go shopping with her fiancé and a little embarrassed that it was for their swimsuits.

Dominick had already gotten his own swim trunks which were ironically black and red, but Laura was taking her sweet time to make up her freaking mind about which one she wanted. Of course the swimsuit store they went to in the mall had a large variety of swimsuits for women and Laura was going through them to find the perfect one.

The silver lining to it though for the German male was that he got to spend time with his fiancée and he got to get a free fashion show just for his eyes.

First Laura came in a grey one piece swimsuit that looked almost similar to the IS suit. "What about this one?" she asked.

Dominick gave that one an instant thumbs down.

Next was a black one piece with a frilly skirt. "This one?"

"…" That only got a blank stare from him that instantly got the message across.

Next was a daring black two piece bikini that got his interest. "H-However this one feels too daring." Laura nervously stated.

"I agree. While I do like it I don't want to go on a killing spree because of the number of men it'll attract." Dominick said making Laura sweat drop.

"Right…"

Finally Laura came out in a black two piece bikini that showed off her figure and instantly got Dominick ogling her with wide eyes and speechless. The German girl didn't even bother to ask about it as his face said it all.

"Then this one it is!" Laura said before she rushed back behind the curtains. It was then that Dominick recovered his wits and blinked.

"How did she know?" he muttered.

…

Dominick and Laura left the store after Dominick paid for both of their swimming suits and they made their way to the food court. When they arrived there they saw their classmates Ichika, Houki, Charlotte and Cecilia there too enjoying their food. The two were about to go meet them when Dominick felt that he was being watched. He then sensed that the person watching him was nearby and hiding in plain sight.

"Laura. Go on ahead and meet with our classmates. I'll catch up." Dominick said.

"Huh? Something wrong Dominick?" Laura asked.

"Nothing really. I just spotted an old acquaintance of mine here and want to catch up." Dominick assured.

Laura looked at Dominick's face and noticed the serious expression as he looked over his shoulder.

"Okay sure. Just don't take too long okay. _And be careful._" She said while whispering the last part.

"Don't worry I won't take long." Dominick said while rushing off to a table that was further from the others but still in viewing range for at least Laura, while Laura went to meet their classmates.

Dominick sat down at a table and waited there. And as he predicted a girl at his age with long red hair wearing a multi-colored dress, red high heels and black sunglasses approached and stood in front of the table. She had a small smile on her face which somehow annoyed the IS pilot.

"Excuse me?" The girl said.

"Yes? Can I help you?" Dominick replied.

"Do you mind if I sit with you?"

"No, I don't. Help yourself."

The girl sat in the vacant chair while acting as placating as possible. However Dominick had seen through her already and was just waiting for whatever crap she wanted to pull. There was silence for a while before Dominick decided to call the girl on her bull shit.

"You're not as subtle as you think." Dominick stated as he put on his red sunglasses.

"Eh? What are you talking about?" The girl said.

"Spare me the bullshit. I know you've been following me since I left that swimsuit store with my girlfriend."

"Aww…And here I thought I'd surprise you Dominick Santos."

Dominick became even more cautious of this woman as her behavior was raising so many red flags. He wasn't the only one as Seraph was going ballistic in him warning him to keep his guard up around this…**bitch!** Dominick mentally raised an eyebrow at his partner. Did he know this woman?

"Who are you and what the hell do you want? And no bullshitting me either." Dominick inquired while glaring at the girl.

"You can call me Monica." The girl said as she removed her shades, revealing her emerald green eyes. "And I'm here because I was intrigued at spotting the pilot of the notorious Nine Ball out here in public."

"You're still bullshitting me girl. Answer the question."

"I am telling you the truth. You're just being paranoid around me."

"For good reason. So are you another fool sent by UN to get me? Or another foolish bounty hunter after the price on my head…or are you an assassin for those pathetic _parents_ of mine or those Phantom Task insects?" Dominick asked dangerously.

"Allow me to answer those in order: The UN didn't send me. While the price on your head is very tempting I'm not interested in it, your parents are not people I'd do business with and please don't put me in the same sentence as those vile terrorists. I'd sooner butcher them than associate with them." The girl replied, "I'm here on my own volition…so can you put that gun away? It's very rude of you to do that to a lady like me."

Dominick scoffed, "You? A lady? If that was a joke then I'm not laughing."

"Whether you believe it or not is not my problem. I'm just here to see and talk to you."

…

Meanwhile in the virtual space, two other AIs were having their own conversation at the same time as their human partners. One of them being a male in its signature black and red color scheme with the number nine on its shoulder and most of its body covered in armor. That was Seraph and he was enraged at the sight of the one standing before him. That one was a female in a white Valkyrie like armor with wings and a helmet covering most of her face except the mouth which had a wide grin on it.

"_**YOU!"**_Seraph growled.

The female AI maintained her grin and replied, _"Hey Seraph! Been a while hasn't it?"_

"_**Does it look like I give a shit? Your presence infuriates me." **_Seraph said.

"_Aw no need to be hostile. I'm just here with my partner to meet your new partner and see you again."_The female AI replied again not losing that grin. And it was pissing Seraph off.

"**We all know that's a load of bullshit." **Seraph deadpanned.

…

Back in the real world…

"Well then…start talking." Dominick said as he laid back on his chair.

"There's a war on the horizon and you the one who defied the IS and created the monster, the one who broke the status quo your classmate Ichika Orimura or the artificial soldier the one you know as 'J' would be the one that tips the scales of that war and bring a decisive end to it. It all depends on what you three do starting from now." Monica said as she absently rubbed her fingers.

"And what about you? Why are you telling me this? What's your role in all this?" Dominick asked.

"Sorry but that would be telling but I can tell you why I am letting you know all this. That's because you are the wild card here. You're the grey shadow of the three and out of them you would make the most impact in the future. How? Now that would also be telling. That is why I am so intrigued by you the most." Monica said. "One thing for sure I'll be watching you three till the endgame."

Monica giggled and then it turned into maniacal laughter which made Dominick very wary and tightening his grip on his sidearm. And then she disappeared into thin air right in front of him. Just like that. He immediately activated thermal imaging in his shades and looked around but he saw nothing.

'_That woman…What is really her stake in this? Why do I have a feeling that she's behind it all?'_ Dominick thought.

"_**That's because she obviously has a stake in all this!" **_Seraph stated.

"_Seraph. I had a feeling you'd say something." _Dominick said, _"What do you know about Monica?"_

"_**That Monica isn't her real name for starters."**_

"_I already figured that out."_

"_**She has an IS that has an AI I know too well and if my guess is correct then I know who 'Monica' really is."**_

"_You're going to tell me right?"_

"_**When I'm sure you'll know. Until then better get back to your fiancée before she gets really worried."**_

With that Seraph cut the link while Dominick went back to catch up with Laura and meet his classmates.

…

At the beach everyone was having fun playing in the water or beach volleyball.

Seth was lying under the sun in his red and black swim trunks and glasses on. He caught the sight of many girls who ogled at his lean and athletic body. That was until Laura wearing her black bikini scared them off and went to sit beside him. Normally she would be embarrassed about being in public like this but ever since she had been engaged to her fiancé she's grown much more confidence with said fiancé also helping too.

"Did you have to scare them shitless?" Dominick asked.

"Of course. You're my fiancé and if any one's to stare at your body it's me!" Laura replied.

"Doesn't mean you have to throw out death threats."

"Like you wouldn't if you saw boys staring at me."

"I wouldn't throw out death threats since I'll be too busy on a rampage to bother."

Laura sweat dropped at his reply. Sometimes Dominick could be so violent. She then saw Dominick look at the others especially Ichika and growled in annoyance.

"Look at the dense moron. The girls are obviously making their feelings for him known and yet he can't get a clue."

"You can't really blame him for that Dominick."

"He's the type of person who doesn't know what he has until it's gone especially something freaking obvious as that. It annoys me to no end."

…

Not far off, Chifuyu, Yami and Maya watched the students having fun and enjoying themselves. They looked especially at Dominick and Laura, the engaged couple that no one expected.

Then there was the news about Shin and Yami's parents being exposed for who they were. It was very shocking for Chifuyu to hear that her best friend's parents were allies with Phantom Task, and many other criminal organizations. It looked like Shin was right about them after all.

As for Yami, she still felt like a fool after her parents were exposed to the world as traitors and scum. Chifuyu and Maya had invited her to come along on the school trip to help her clear her head and also try to still make amends with her brother.

"That's one couple I never expected." Yami said as she observed her brother and his fiancée. "And they are also engaged, with plans to get marriage after they graduate."

"Join the club. I never thought Laura would fall for anyone not to mention your brother, considering her upbringing back in Germany. It seemed that Dominick somehow managed to make her lighten up and be happy." Chifuyu said. "Though honestly I'm glad for her that she found someone to love and one that loves her back."

"Though no one expected that her fiancé is one of the most wanted people in the world, creator and pilot of a death machine." Maya said.

"Not to mention who his parents are…" Chifuyu muttered, "Speaking of which Yami, are you alright? That kind of news is not easy to take."

"I'm doing okay for the most part, but I still can't believe that my parents were as bad as Shin said." Yami said.

"I'm in the same boat as you Yami but evidence has proven that."

Yami sighed, "So all through my life they had been nothing but monsters and yet I refused to believe Shin when he mentioned the facts, especially with their plot for the Sarashikis."

"Yes, speaking of that, the Sarashikis didn't take the news well either. When their daughter told them about what your parents planned the cut their ties with your family in a hurry much to their parents shock and that was after they visited them when they were in custody." Maya added. "Although Tatenashi still believes she can get back with Dominick."

"Unfortunately he's already taken." Yami said sadly.

"So are you still going to talk with your brother?" Chifuyu asked.

"I don't know…I'll still try even though I know he's going to say _I told you so _and mock me for my foolishness." The older Kusanagi sibling sighed.

"You should still try. Besides it's not like Dominick can still keep blaming you for what happened to him." Maya said.

"I suppose you're right Maya." Yami said.

…

Later at night while most were asleep, Laura was talking with someone she had a very low opinion of. Someone who let her fiancé down in the past, his own older sister.

"So you finally decided to open your eyes huh? Took you long enough!" Laura chastised.

"You're right. I took too long to open my eyes to the truth." Yami admitted.

"Damn right you did! You were too busy being blind to the truth even when it was a lot closer to you. It's no wonder Dominick hates you so much and wants nothing to do with you. Even if you've seen the truth you have a long way to go to get his forgiveness."

"I know Laura-san…I know that…It's just…"

"Don't make any excuses for yourself Yami-sensei. You're doing yourself no favor."

"I just want to say I'm sorry…"

"Well you're telling the wrong person. Go apologize to the right person when he wakes up tomorrow."

Yami closed her eyes before standing up and taking her leave. Before she got to the door she looked back at the silver haired girl.

"Laura…Do you really love my brother?"

"Of course I do. We already made that clear to you earlier."

"I know…As an older sister and soon to be sister-in law I just want to be sure that he's in good hands."

"He's been in much _better_ hands for some time. No need to bother yourself."

"Well take this as an order from your teacher then. Dominick's happiness is your top priority. Do whatever it takes to keep him happy. Is that clear?"

"Like I need to hear that from you. He's happiness was already my top priority ever since he came into my life."

* * *

**Chapter 9 End.**

**And we have a new person enter the picture. One that Seraph does not like at all and she has plans for Dominick, Ichika and J.**

**Yami now looks like a fool and is now more determined to make amends. A little too late for that huh?**

**Anyways leave a review and don't waste time with flames as they'll be ignored. **


	10. Chapter 10

**IS Nine Ball**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Infinite Stratos.**

**Chapter 10**

* * *

Dominick was enjoying his sleep like many of the other students who were at the summer resort. Unfortunately that sleep was rudely interrupted by a really fucking loud crash that shook the ground under him and jolted him awake. Pissed off that someone ruined his sleep Dominick got up, grabbed his black and red desert eagle and walked out of his room to the courtyard where he traced the sound to. Other students who were woken up by the same sound had gotten out of their room only to jump back in when they saw a pissed off guy with a gun in hand walking down the hallway. No way do they want to end up in his cross-hairs.

Arriving in the courtyard Dominick saw Ichika sitting on the floor and a large carrot? What the fuck…hold up! A carrot…That meant…And he got his answer as the giant carrot opened up and out came out a woman with long purple hair, red eyes, wearing a blue and white maid dress with rabbit ears on top of her head.

The Nine Ball pilot became very pissed. This…bitch was the very reason why the world was such a clusterfuck right now! The reason why there's such a bullshit power play between nations and genders. The same reason why his life became a living hell!

"**Tabane Shinonono…" **Dominick growled in rage getting the attention of both Ichika and the woman in question, **"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" **

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Both Tabane and Ichika screamed and ran for their dear lives from a Dominick who was only seeing red right now and shooting at them with a desert eagle, which also got the attention of a lot of people and caused a lot of panic. It took the efforts of Laura, Chifuyu, Maya and many others to calm the ballistic Nine Ball pilot and save the creator of the IS and the younger Orimura sibling.

…

"Good, everyone with personal ISs are here." Chifuyu said as she looked at the four young women and two young men gathered before her in the beach, all in there IS suits. Beside her was Yami Kusanagi to assist. "And hopefully one of you has a much calmer head now." Dominick just glared at his instructor and ignored her altogether making her ticked.

"Shin-chan, don't be rude!" Yami scolded.

"And you should shut the fuck up!" Dominick snapped back, startling her.

"Alright, that's enough Dominick!" Chifuyu yelled.

"Tsk…Whatever…" Dominick shrugged.

"YAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOO!"

Ichika, Houki, Chifuyu and Yami deadpanned, and Dominick growled as they heard the childish voice of the one person that annoys them the most or in the case of one enrages.

"CHHIII-CHHAAANNN!"

Flying at breakneck speeds, a familiar figure came down towards Chifuyu. Chifuyu easily held down the woman with one hand, grabbing onto her face too as the fingers sank mercilessly into the flesh.

"I really missed you Chi-chan! Let's hug to show our love-fuheh!" The woman was interrupted as Chifuyu smacked the woman on the head with a folded book.

"Shut up, Tabane." Chifuyu ordered.

"OWWW! Chi-chan you've killed the brain cells in my pretty little head!" Tabane whined.

"That's good, since that means that you'll think a lot better."

Right then and there, Houki hid behind a couple of rocks. But even that didn't save her.

"HIII!" Tabane popped her head over the rocks and smiled at the brunette.

"Hello." Houki replied in embarrassment.

"Hehehe, long time no see. How long has it been? A few years? Houki-chan's really grown up, especially the breasts-"

**SMACK!**

"I'm gonna hit you." Houki said with a shinai magically in her hands.

"You've already hit me! Houki-chan you're so mean!" Tabane complained with teary eyes as she pressed her head.

"Tabane!" Chifuyu barked out once more, "Introduce yourself, my students don't know what's going on."

The woman pouted but then spun around and waved at the other students, "Huh-that's so troublesome... hello, I'm the genius Tabane-san! That's all!"

"Tabane…" Rin gaped, "You mean that Tabane?"

"Tabane Shinonono." Charlotte said as she also gaped at the woman.

"The one and only bitch that turned this world into a clusterfuck, created a stupid power play between genders and governments!" Dominick growled. Laura held his arm to calm her fiancé down and it worked for now.

"Mou! Chi-chan! Your student is so mean…saying those things about me…" Tabane said with mock tears.

Chifuyu face palmed in frustration, "That's because he hates you. A lot."

"Really?" Tabane asked.

"Yes, Tabane. My brother hates you a lot." Yami said.

"No, I'm not your brother! When will you get it through that head meat of yours that I'm not your brother?!" Dominick yelled.

"Brother?" Tabane looked at Dominick and Yami in puzzlement. "What does he mean by that Yami-chan?"

"Tabane. That boy that hates you so much and tried to kill you earlier…is Shin Kusanagi, Yami's younger brother." Chifuyu explained, "However he now goes by the name Dominick Santos."

"EEEEHHHHHH!?" The Shinonono siblings and the other students except Laura yelled but for different reasons.

"Yami-sensei's your sister!?" Rin gasped.

"I don't believe this…Miss Kusanagi is related to this boy?!" Cecilia asked.

"So the Nine Ball pilot is actually the younger brother of Yami-sensei?!" Ichika said as he also gaped at Dominick and Yami.

"Hold on…T-That's Chibi-Shin-kun?!" Tabane blurted out. "And he's the pilot of Nine Ball?!"

"It's Dominick Santos you crazy woman!" Dominick corrected. "And yes Nine Ball is my creation!"

"You created Nine Ball!? AAAHHH! I've been wanting to meet the creator of that death machine! Never expected it to be Chibi-Shin-kun!" Tabane said in excitement.

"Forget about that! You tried to kill my sister, Dominick!? Why!?" Houki yelled out.

"She's the reason why my life went to hell to begin with, that's why." Dominick replied.

"She's the reason why your life went to hell?" Charlotte repeated.

"What do you mean by that?" Ichika asked.

"Why don't you ask your sister? Better yet ask the glorified bitch Yami! I'm sure she can explain everything." Dominick said maliciously.

The other students except Laura who already knew about Dominick's past, turned to Yami and Chifuyu. Chifuyu sighed in frustration once more while Yami averted her eyes from them as their stares were making her uncomfortable.

"Well aren't you going to explain to them? Or should I?" Laura spoke up.

"You mean you know?" Charlotte asked.

"Yes." Laura replied before turning back to Yami. "Well? Aren't you going to talk? We don't have all day."

"ENOUGH!" Chifuyu ordered, "She doesn't have to tell you anything, besides that's none of your business."

"If she won't tell them then I will." Dominick said. "But that story is for another time. You did call us here for a reason Miss Orimura."

"Yes, I did." Chifuyu said, "As I was saying to those that have personal IS…"

"Um..." Rin raised her hand to interrupt, "Shinonono doesn't have an IS."

"Not to worry. I prepared that already. Here, behold the great sky!" Tabane said excitedly as she made a ridiculous pose and pointed up towards the sky. Suddenly a large red diamond shaped metallic object impacted with the ground from exactly where she pointed at.

"Well now, this is Houki-chan's personal IS, The Akatsubaki! Its specs are superior to every IS in every way, a fourth generation IS made personally by Tabane-san!"

The crimson red IS then made itself known and the other IS users except Dominick looked at the machine in awe, "Fourth Generation?"

Cecilia gasped. "All the other countries still have experimental third generation ISs!"

"Yet this is already…" Laura muttered in disbelief. She looked to Dominick to see him just looking blankly at the machine with boredom. _'Not surprising. He wouldn't believe that it'll be better than his own creation.'_

"Don't be so surprised everyone." Tabane chided, "I'm the Tabane the genius after all! Now Houki-chan, let's get you fitted into your IS."

"Very well." Chifuyu turned to the younger woman, "Shinonono."

Houki nodded and approached her personal unit, "So this is my own IS…"

Tabane typed in the coding for her sister's IS and at an astonishing, which alone amazed its bystanders as thousands upon thousands of codes were being downloaded into the Akatsubaki. Even Dominick was impressed at that even if he still hated the woman herself.

"There! All done!" Tabane swiped the holographic screen away and retrieved all the wiring that seemed to disappear into her dress. "Okay then, now for a test run. Try flying, it should move according to your thoughts."

"Okay." Houki nodded and closed her eyes, and just like that the machine started to hover and then fly up into the air.

"Wow!" Rin gasped, "It's fast!"

"So this is fourth generation speed." Charlotte could only look on as the red IS soared through the air.

"Amazing." Ichika said in awe.

"Hmph! It's still nowhere near Nine Ball's speed." Dominick stated, "I'm not impressed."

"You don't know that yet Dominick." Laura chided, "It's too soon for you to compare her IS against Nine Ball."

Her fiancé shrugged, "Whatever."

Laura sighed at his attitude though she saw this coming.

"What do you think, the mobility is amazing right?"Tabane asked Houki on the comm-link.

"Yeah…" Houki nodded, "I guess."

"Then try out your katanas. The right one is Amatsuki, and the left one is Karaware. Sending special weapon data your way!"

In an instant, data of her two weapons popped up into Houki's HUD, showing her the two weapons available to her. She then stopped midair and swung her swords, sending out a torrent of red lasers that soared through the clouds.

"Nice right?" Tabane then teleported in an anti-air missile launcher and commanded it to launch its missiles, "Now try shooting this one down."

The missiles then soared through the air and attempted to shoot down the brunette IS pilot. Houki didn't waste time and then started flying in circles, doing high-g maneuvers. Swinging her swords she shot down the wave of missiles like they were nothing.

'_So what do you think Seraph?' _Dominick asked his partner.

"_**This is a Fourth Generation IS? HA! What a joke! At least when compared to me!" **_Seraph replied.

'_Thought so. I've already done the same thing.'_

"Whoa." Laura spoke up.

"Amazing." Ichika said.

"Not bad right?" Tabane giggled.

Dominick scoffed, "So this is the power of a Fourth Generation IS huh? Doubt it can stack up to Nine Ball."

A tick came on the genius inventor's head. "Of course it can Chibi-Shin-kun!" Tabane chided, "It was made by yours truly after all!"

Dominick slyly grinned back. "Oh I know that. And I made Nine Ball to surpass ANY IS in the world, no matter the generation and the best part…it's piloted by a male."

That surprised everyone. Nine Ball was created to surpass any IS in the world, even a fourth generation. And like the pilot said, it was piloted by a male. Yami wished she could be proud of her brother for creating that IS but she couldn't because of what he had become. A vengeful and blood thirsty individual. Houki did not like the fact that Dominick was mocking her sister's creation. She may have experienced Nine Ball's destructive ability first hand but back then she was in a different IS. She felt that she needed to defend her sister's work and bring Dominick down many peg.

"Is that right? Well then Dominick why don't we see that for ourselves?" Houki challenged.

"Gladly." Dominick then touched his cross and in an instant Nine Ball was deployed in all its intimidating glory. "Well now. Shall we begin?"

Just as the two pilots were about to take off they were interrupted by Maya Yamada rushing into the scene holding a phone. "ORIMURA-SENSEI! T-THIS IS B-BAD!"

"What is it?" Chifuyu asked.

"P-Please look at this." Maya showed her colleague the image on the phone. Upon seeing it Chifuyu's face darkened and she turned to the students. "Testing has been cancelled everyone! We have a mission to do!"

"We'll settle this another time." Dominick said.

"Agreed." Houki replied.

…

Chifuyu, Yami, Maya and those with personal ISs were inside a secret room where Maya was typing on a computer while Chifuyu was briefing the pilots.

"Two hours ago, a third generation IS called the Silver Gospel, joint developed by the US and Israel was undergoing a trial operation when its user lost control. Also the pilot has been rendered incapacitated and is now being held hostage by the rampaging IS. We have been informed that it has escaped the observation area." Chifuyu explained.

'_Leave it to the Americans to screw things up.' _Dominick sighed.

"_**Tell me about it partner." **_Seraph deadpanned.

"Fortunately with satellite imaging, we've managed to track the Gospel's signal which is coming from 2km away. It's heading our way and with its current speed the ETA is fifty minutes." Yami added.

"Which is exactly how long we have to handle the situation." Chifuyu continued before motioning to the digital map, "The academy staff will initiate the blockade of the airspace as well as the waters using the academy's training machines. Thus leaving those with personal machines to take care of the vital part of the operation."

"Which is to shut down the rampaging IS and save the pilot." Yami said.

"Exactly." Chifuyu said.

"Ma'am. I'd like to see the specs of the Silver Gospel." Cecilia requested with her hand up.

"Same here." Dominick joined in, "We need to know exactly what we're dealing with."

"Request granted. Just know that if you disclose this anyone outside of this group you'll be charged for treason and will be imprisoned for it." Chifuyu warned.

"Sure."

"Whatever."

Dominick and Cecilia got the data they requested for and looked through it.

"Oh my god…This thing's specs are insane and it's been outfitted with never before seen tech. In fact it reminds me of Dominick's Nine Ball." Cecilia said, shocking those present.

"That's troubling." Laura stated before looking at Dominick who looked at data while he was mentally discussing things with Seraph.

'_Cecilia's right. It's been outfitted like me and J's ISs! How the hell did the US and Israel get their hands on this tech?! Only the Foundation has this stuff to begin with…unless…'_

"_**Unless 'Monica' supplied those nations with those AC parts! I knew that bitch was up to no good."**_

'_So is this a part of whatever plan she's cooked up?'_

"_**Definitely. In fact I think she's the reason why that IS' on a rampage."**_

'_Alright Seraph. I need to know what you know about 'Monica' now.'_

"_**Fine I'll tell you but only after the briefing."**_

"For this operation to succeed we need a one shot ability to take it down as quickly as possible." Chifuyu said.

"Fortunately we have someone who can do that here." Charlotte said as everyone looked at the one person in question, Ichika Orimura. Said person noticed the attention he was getting and was feeling uncomfortable. "Hey! Why are you all looking at me?"

"Because your IS' the only one with one shot ability." Rin said.

"Meaning that you're the one who has to undertake this mission." Cecilia added.

"Are you sure about that? Don't forget that this thing's been outfitted like Nine Ball." Dominick said, "This is something only I can handle." _'And maybe J too though I'd rather deal with this myself.'_

"Do you have a one shot ability Dominick?" Chifuyu asked.

"Yes, I do. My orbital cannons can take the Gospel out in one shot but the problem with it is that the Gospel is on the move which would make it difficult to lock on to it." Dominick replied, "Even then Nine Ball is more than a match for that damned thing."

"You may have that overwhelming firepower but you still don't have a guaranteed one shot ability." Chifuyu stated, "I'll be assigning this task to Ichika."

"Hey don't I get a say in this?" Ichika complained.

"NO!" Everyone yelled.

"But…"

"Ichika. You're the only one who can get this done quickly and efficiently." Chifuyu stated, "Of course it's your choice whether you want to undertake this task."

Ichika stayed silent, contemplating the situation.

Dominick scoffed and got up to his feet. "If he's too much of a coward to do this then I will be the one to handle this."

"I'll do it." Ichika spoke up.

"Are you sure?" Yami asked, "You don't have to force yourself."

"I know. I've made my decision."

"Tsk. Do as you please." Dominick sighed.

"Good. Now you need a way to reach the target at supersonic speeds." Chifuyu said.

Dominick was about to suggest that he help with that but someone else beat him to the punch.

"HOLD ON, HOLD ON!" A sudden voice came from the ceiling. Everyone looked up to see Tabane drop from there and land gracefully across from Chifuyu. "I've got a better idea!"

"Get out Tabane." Chifuyu growled.

"Wait listen! This is the chance for the Akatsubaki to shine." Tabane explained. "It has the supersonic speed you need to reach that IS!"

…

Dominick secretly watched as Ichika and Houki stood beside each other before deploying their ISs and taking off using the Akatsubaki's thrusters. He had also noticed that the brunette had been letting the power of her IS get to her head which made him shake his head in disappointment. He wanted to handle this by himself but Chifuyu had ordered him to stay put and leave it to those two. He could have ignored her and gone off anyways but he decided to trust her judgement as the mission commander.

'_I have a bad feeling about this mission.' _Dominick thought to himself, _'It has disaster written all over it.' _He then materialized a holographic screen and pressed a button to access the orbital cannon which also doubled as a surveillance system to watch the mission.

…

'_Why did my hunch have to be right?' _Dominick sighed in frustration. The mission was a disaster alright! Thanks to distraction by some foolish whalers who had somehow passed the blockade and Houki's arrogance Ichika ended up taking serious damage from the Silver Gospel and is now being taken away on a stretcher by medics and he was in critical condition. Of course Dominick had made sure to obliterate the asshole whalers with the orbital cannon just out of spite.

He watched as an angry Chifuyu stomp away from the scene back to the command room just as Houki and the other IS pilots and staff watched. Dominick tightened his right hand into a fist as he looked away from the scene in anger.

'_And now I have to clean up their fucking mess!' _

With that Dominick walked away from the area without anyone noticing him.

…

Right now Dominick was on the comm-link with J.

"Hey Reaper Leader! It's Dominick. We have a situation."

"The Silver Gospel? Yes I know about it…What else?"

"The IS Academy tried to neutralize the situation but failed badly. Now I'm about to clean up their mess! I may need you to back me up just in case this gets ugly."

"I'm a long way from you Dominick since I just finished another assignment. It'll take me a while to arrive to back you up, even at top speed. You're on your own for this!"

"I know that. I intend to deal with this menace myself anyways. Also I have a suspicion that someone is behind this situation."

"Monica huh? If that is truly her name."

"Yes. The Gospel is an IS/AC hybrid like our own and the only way the US and Israel could get the tech for that was through someone and that is definitely Monica."

"The boss also thinks so too and he's not happy about this Monica woman's stunt. He wants this insult dealt with."

"And I'll make sure of that but are you still coming as backup."

"Most likely but until I arrive you're on your own."

"Roger that. Dominick out!"

Cutting off the link Dominick wastes no time deploying Nine Ball. However before he could take off someone stops him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Dominick turned to see Laura walking towards him.

"What I should have done to begin with!" Dominick replied.

"You know the instructor wouldn't approve of this."

"Does it look like I give a fuck?"

Laura said nothing as she instantly deployed the Schwarzer Regen. Dominick just sighed.

"You'll still follow me even if I tell you not to."

"That's right Major! I'm coming with you. Ichika is our classmate after all. I'm also doing this for mentor, I've never seen her so vulnerable in my life."

"Well then soldier hold on. We're moving out!"

"Jawhol, Major!"

Laura held on to Dominick and he took off at supersonic speeds. Fortunately his orbital cannon had tracked the location of the Silver Gospel and it was still on the move and still within the blockade. Suddenly he got an incoming message from Chifuyu and knew what was up.

"_What do you think you're doing Santos, Bodewig?" _Chifuyu demanded.

"Cleaning up your fucking mess that's what!" Dominick yelled in reply.

"I'm ordering you two to come back right now!"

"Screw you! I let you have your way because you were in command of the mission but your crappy judgement turned that mission to hell! Now Laura and I have to help you unfuck yourself!"

"Shin-chan! Bodewig-san! Get back here!" Yami's voice joined in, "You're going to get yourself killed!"

"Like you give a shit about me bitch! Save your breath for someone who gives a fuck!"

"Santos-san! Bodewig-san!" came the voices of the Maya and the other girls.

"We'll handle this!" Laura yelled and Dominick cut off the link.

Not long the two IS pilots caught up to the Silver Gospel which noticed them immediately. Dominick dropped Laura off on a cliff and took off to the air.

"I'll engage from mid to close range while you support from long range. Got it?"

"Yes, Major! Let's do this!"

"Right on!"

"_**Commencing hostilities!" **_Seraph stated.

The Silver Gospel scanned both ISs and then focused on Nine Ball.

"_**TARGET ACQUIRED: NINE BALL. NEXT ORDERS: DESTROY NINE BALL!"**_

…

Meanwhile in the distance illuminated by the moon was a female IS pilot staying in the air and watching the battle in interest while in her dark blue IS/AC hybrid of her own.

"Well it looks like Ichika failed and now Dominick is up next." The woman said, "Will he succeed or will he fail? Oh the suspense is killing me!"

* * *

**Chapter 10 End.**

**The gauntlet has been thrown and Ichika is down! Now it's Nine Ball vs the Silver Gospel. Who will prevail?**

**Who is Monica? What does Seraph know about the mysterious woman? What's she planning?**

**All will be explained soon. Until then leave a review and anything to improve this story.**


	11. Chapter 11

**IS Nine Ball**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Infinite Stratos.**

**Chapter 11**

* * *

**Previously on IS Nine Ball…**

"_I'll engage from mid to close range while you support from long range. Got it?" _

"_Yes, Major! Let's do this!"_

"_Right on!"_

"_**Commencing hostilities!" **__Seraph stated._

_The Silver Gospel scanned both ISs and then focused on Nine Ball. _

"_**TARGET ACQUIRED: NINE BALL. NEXT ORDERS: DESTROY NINE BALL!"**_

**…**

_Meanwhile in the distance illuminated by the moon was a female IS pilot staying in the air and watching the battle in interest while in her dark blue IS/AC hybrid of her own._

"_Well it looks like Ichika failed and now Dominick is up next." The woman said, "Will he succeed or will he fail? Oh the suspense is killing me!"_

**…**

**[Play-4 the Answer, Armored Core 4 Answer OST]**

Missiles, bullets, explosions and lasers lit up the night sky as a single white winged IS known as the Silver Gospel and its foe the red and black colored death machine Nine Ball tangoed in a deadly battle.

In the distance on a cliff was Laura with her Schwarzer Regen provided long range support with her railgun. She also had to dodge the plasma bolts from the rampaging IS.

Dominick was beginning to get frustrated with the way his opponent was easily avoiding his attacks. This thing was actually keeping up with Nine Ball! No way would he accept this!

"What the fuck!? This is getting annoying! Just what kind of AI did those fuckers put in this thing!?" _'Not to mention that Monica bitch.'_

"A very advanced one if I may say. Especially when it could hold the pilot hostage, this just makes it all the more difficult."

"Yes. We have to defeat this thing without harming the pilot. Damn it!"

'_Please tell me you got something Seraph.'_

"_**I'm multitasking here partner! When I'm done I'll tell you!" **_Even Nine Ball's AI was dealing with its own issues.

Dominick drew out his second pulse rifle after putting away his Moonlight saber and doubled his barrage. The Silver Gospel's shield soon flared to life as a few shots landed. "Got you!"

"Nice one Major!" Laura said as she too landed a hit with her railgun shells, "Keep up the pressure!"

The two pilots increased the tempo of their attacks and got the Silver Gospel on the defensive. Then suddenly formed itself into a ball.

"Okay? What the hell is it doing now?" Dominick asked. Then to their shock it summoned wings made of light and showed itself in all its glory.

"_**Warning! Power levels of enemy IS have increased to insane levels even beyond Nine Ball's capabilities." **_Seraph stated. _**"Apparently it has undergone Second Shift."**_

'_Second Shift? What the hell?' _Dominick wondered.

"Dominick! Watch out!" Laura yelled getting him out of his thoughts just in time to dodge the silver IS as it tried to grab him.

"So you've just become more powerful huh?" Dominick scoffed, "Well how about I even the playing field? Nine Overdrive Activate!"

Unlike the last time, a red aura surrounded Dominick before a shockwave followed suit pushing the Silver Gospel back and this time he did not go insane. Thanks to Laura and Seraph's help he was able to work on the Nine Overdrive System and remove the main flaw of it but it also created another one. He could only use 30 minutes. But for the Nine Ball pilot it was all he needed to end this battle.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's finish this!" Dominick stated as he resumed the battle.

The fight raged on as Nine Ball and Silver Gospel fought at even terms. Blades clashed, missiles, grenades and lasers were exchanged and both machines were nothing but blurs. Laura looked on in awe and complete disbelief at these two fighters as they continued their deadly dance. Of course she also knew that this stalemate would only last for thirty minutes because of the Nine Overdrive System's flaw.

Dominick growled in frustration as he wasn't doing any better than before. Sure he had landed some hits of his own but his opponent kept coming back even harder than before. He looked at his HUD and noticed that he only had a minute left in his Nine Overdrive state.

"I refuse to let some cheap mockery beat me! Time to go for broke!" Dominick yelled out. In a burst of speed he rushed right in the Gospel's space and hit its chest with a pulse rifle and fired a barrage into it. Then he spun around and plunged the other pulse rifle in its face and unloaded another barrage. Dominick then fired the grenade launcher at point blank range, using the explosion to create distance. Then while in midair he unloaded the vertical missiles on his foe before finishing with two charged blasts from his pulse rifles.

**[End Song]**

"Finally it's over." Dominick sighed just as the Nine Overdrive state ended. Worse Nine Ball's shield levels had dropped to critical levels, another flaw of the system. Not like it was going to matter since the enemy was defeated…"

Dominick! It's not over yet!" Laura yelled out to him.

"What!?" Dominick turned to see the Silver Gospel without a scratch get in his face and grabbed him in a tight bear hug. Before he could struggle the Gospel covered him with its wings and began electrocuting him.

"AAAARRRRGGGHHHHHH!"

After a few seconds the wings spread open and the Silver Gospel released an unconscious Dominick, letting him fall towards the ocean.

"DOMINICK! NOOOOO!" Laura launched herself towards her fiancé and even used ignition boost. Unfortunately she barely missed him as Dominick landed in the ocean and began sinking down. "Noooo…" Laura muttered before she glared at the Silver Gospel, "Damn you bastard! I'll destroy you!"

Just then Houki, Cecilia, Rin and Charlotte arrived at the scene. They saw Laura glaring at the Silver Gospel but no sign of Dominick.

"Laura? Where's Dominick?" Houki asked.

"That…that thing took him out!" Laura gritted her teeth.

"WHAT!?" Charlotte gasped. "The Nine Ball lost against the Silver Gospel?! No way!"

"So much for all that bravado!" Houki scoffed, "He still didn't do any better!" Wrong thing to say as Laura got in the brunette's face with her laser blades near her neck in a scissors position.

"You watch your mouth Shinonono!" Laura gasped, "That's my fiancé you're talking about!"

"EEEEEEEEHHHHHH!"

**…**

"Such a shame…and here I honestly wanted him to win." 'Monica' pouted at the conclusion of the last battle. "Oh well, J is up next. Hopefully he proves himself better than the other two." She hovered in the sky and continued to watch the ensuing battle.

**…**

Inside an unfamiliar environment, Dominick gasped for air as he sat up from the floor. He looked around at the strange place he was in.

"Where am I? How did I get here…Shit! That damned IS!"

"Dominick? You're here too?" asked a familiar male voice from Dominick's left. He looked in that direction and saw Ichika standing there too in surprise.

"Ichika?! Where are we?"

"**Inside the virtual space."** Said a deep female voice. Both guys turned to see a woman in an armored suit with a helmet that covered most of her head except the lower half of her face behind her were what looked like wings. In her hand was a large broadsword which she held in front of her pointing downwards. Overall she looked like a knight. Dominick instantly recognized the individual.

"You're the White Knight!"

"**No I am the AI for the ****Byakushiki, just like your AI Seraph for Nine Ball, Dominick Santos or may I say Shin Kusanagi?" **The AI replied.

"I'd rather not be called that." Dominick growled, "Name's Dominick Santos. Don't forget it. Anyways if I'm here then where's Seraph?"

"**Right here partner."** A deep male voice said. Dominick turned to see his AI partner that has always had his back. He had red armor on with the arms and legs being black. His red helmet that had two blue eyes covered his whole face. Like the other AI Seraph also had wings of its own behind it.

"Seraph?"

"**Yes it's me partner. Walk with me and let us talk."**

The two walked away from Ichika and his AI to talk elsewhere.

"I can't believe I lost to that thing too!" Dominick tightened his fists in frustration. "I can't believe I let some mockery of my creation beat me!"

"**Crying over spilled milk won't help your situation partner." **Seraph chided, **"Besides it's time I gave you that explanation you wanted."**

"Well then, spill it already!"

"**So impatient…anyways that 'Monica' woman is actually Anna Klein, descendant of Leos Klein, an Armored Core pilot and the original Nine Breaker as he was the first man to defeat me back in my dimension and also the leader of the group known as The Frighteners. Back then I was known as Hustler One and the AI of Armored Core Nine ball. As for her AI it's the one of the very machine Leos piloted when we fought."**

"So you and Anna are not from this world?"

"**Correct. As for how I or Anna ended up here I can't say. But I do know that she somehow came here with AC parts and gave them to US and Israel which they used for making the Silver Gospel. The AI is that of an AC NEXT, a much advanced armored core known as White Glint which explains why it gave you hell."**

Dominick growled in anger. "You know you could have told me this the first time we found her."

"**I know but I needed to be sure that it was her and her AI. I don't know why she is here as like her ancestor she's a very unpredictable person."**

"Alright. What now though? I'm here and Laura's out there alone against that monster! I know that I'm not dead yet but she wouldn't be able to handle that thing."

"**I know a way that will completely even the odds or put things in our favor. Second Shift."**

"Like that thing did?"

"**Yes. Though before I get that process starting I need to ask you something."**

"Why? We have a battle to return to and you questioning me is not helping!"

"**If you want the power to win this and also save Laura and your classmates from a terrible disaster then you'll do this!"**

Dominick went silent immediately which satisfied Seraph. **"Good. Let us begin. Also I want you to be honest with me here. Will you forgive your sister Yami? I already know that your parents are beyond the point of forgiveness so that leaves your only remaining family and one who had been making efforts to fix things."**

Dominick paused for that question as that one had been bothering him for years. His parents had put him through hell and Yami had done nothing but bask in all the praises she received. When the IS was revealed and she was found to be a compatible pilot he was happy for her and even supported her but that was also when his living hell began. After his violent exit his parents had only sought to kill him while Yami had been trying to make amends**. **Now those relics are rotting away in prison for their crimes and his sister is still looking to reconnect with him. And the worst part she was sincere about it. He made up his mind and turned to Seraph.

"I'll forgive Yami but that will take a while. She could have ended my suffering back then but she failed to, which is the only reason why I grew to resent her. If she's willing to make amends then I'll give her a chance."

If Seraph had a mouth he would be grinning right now in approval. He had been hoping for his partner to drop his animosity for his sister and forgive her. Now that he's clear of that now they can both do this and achieve their goals together.

"**Well then partner…We have a fight to finish don't we?"**

Dominick grinned maniacally. "Hell yes we do." Then both were engulfed in light at the same time as Ichika and his own AI.

**…**

Meanwhile back in the real world, things were not going so well for the IS pilots as they struggled against the ruthless Silver Gospel. Cecilia, Rin and Charlotte had taken heavy damage and were staying back and supporting from long range while both Houki and Laura blinded by rage engaged the IS in close range. Even with the disadvantage both did not intend to give up, driven by their desire to get payback for the boys they loved. Houki for Ichika and Laura for Dominick. The Akatsubaki and Schwarzer Regen managed to corner the Silver Gospel and both swung their blades at it…only to be denied as the IS used its own twin laser blades to deflect their attacks and then suddenly grab them by their necks.

'_Ichika…I'm sorry…'_

'_Dominick…Forgive me…'_

Fortunately for both pilots, a torrent of lasers hit the Silver Gospel forcing it to release them and fly away and while they began to descend. Both were caught by large metallic hands and they looked up to see two familiar people but they looked completely different.

Houki stared at Ichika in his Byakushiki which had undergone Second Shift and now had fold out armor just like her Akatsubaki and it was much more armored and bigger than normal. In addition it had a multi-purpose unit fitted on its left arm and four large wing thrusters. Laura however stared at the now 10ft tall death machine which had large wing-like binders on its shoulders, longer arms, larger thrusters capable of unfolding when boosting at full power and a more pointed core. The helmet covered the face entirely with a single blue eye at the center. In addition to its signature color scheme of red and black, it had gold accents and it still had its signature emblem: the solid black circle with a golden-amber **9**. **(AN: Basically Nine Ball's ****Another Century's Episode R appearance.) **This was Dominick and Nine Ball had also undergone Second Shift too.

"I-Ichika?" "D-Dominick?" Both Houki and Laura widened their eyes as tears began to fall.

"Sorry I'm late, Houki." "Missed me?" Ichika and Dominick said at the same time. Both men were enveloped in hugs by their girls.

"Sorry for making you worry." Ichika said as he produced a white ribbon to Houki. "I got you something."

"I know that you want to yell my ears off but right now we have a fight to finish." Dominick said to his fiancée as both he and Ichika glared at the Silver Gospel. "Ready for this Ichika?"

"You bet I am."

**…**

Anna Klein looked on in surprise and amusement as she saw both Ichika and Dominick arrive back from their downed states and their ISs in their Second Shift forms. Looks like it was too soon for her to wave them off and was glad that they proved her wrong.

"It's as they say…it isn't over until the fat lady sings and she sure as hell hasn't sung yet." She said with a satisfied grin. "Now for the endgame."

**…**

**[Play: Nine Ball Seraph Theme Remix, ACE: R Soundtrack]**

The battle had resumed in full swing and this time the tables had been turned as the Silver Gospel was hard pressed against the returning male IS pilots it had beaten earlier and they were coming at it with a vengeance, as the Byakushiki Setsura attacked more viciously with its laser sword, energy claw and arm cannon and Nine Ball Seraph hammered away with its bullets, grenade rounds, homing missiles and four orbital bits that followed its movements and attacked it with barrages of laser. The Silver Gospel noticed its shield was now below 50%. It had not factored in the two male pilots coming back from their injuries and in much more powerful ISs that far surpassed it by far.

The Nine Ball Seraph and Byakushiki Setsura sped towards the white IS once more with Dominick covering his approach with a hail of bullets and missiles. Ichika and the IS clashed with their laser blades before Dominick joined in the fun. Seeing that it would be overwhelmed the white IS tried to run away but both pilots were having none of that.

"You're not getting away!"

"There's no escape altmetall!" **(AN: German for Scrap Metal)**

Dominick sped up to the fleeing IS and grabbed it by the head and dive bombed towards a small island and slammed it on the ground. Then it dragged the IS on the ground further messing up its shield and tossed it up. The chest armor of Nine Ball Seraph opened up, revealing a chest laser which charged up and fired at the defenseless IS putting its shield at a critical level.

"Now finish it Ichika!"

"On it!" Ichika grabbed the Silver Gospel and dragged it down back down towards the same island slamming it directly onto the beach again, and crippling the white IS. He had the Yukihara impaled in its chest which the Silver Gospel tried to remove it but Ichika would not be denied and he finally shut down the IS.

**[End Song]**

"It's finally over."

"Not yet!" Dominick stated as he landed and went straight for the downed IS as he deactivated Nine Ball. He took the AI chip from its headgear, dropped it onto the ground and crushed under the weight of his foot. "Now it's over!"

**…**

"Aww…He destroyed the AI chip. Oh well it was expendable after all. Besides it served its purpose and I'd have to say those two passed their test." Anna said after seeing the battle's conclusion.

"You don't say Anna Klein." A gruff male voice spoke up from behind her. She turned to see J inside his black IS N-WGIX pointing a KE rifle at her.

"Ah so you finally showed up? Or more like you were already here but chose to not participate in the test."

"I don't have time for your petty games you crazy bitch."

"Oh the pot's calling the kettle black?" Anna immediately boost dodged from a KE shot. "Ah, ah, ah…You don't have the right to kill me yet Reaper Leader. Unless you pass my test and prove yourself worthy you won't have the honor of facing me in battle."

J growled, "Do I look like I give a damn about what you say?"

"Of course you don't you grouch. You never smile at anyone. Even when Dominick was your protégé."

"I don't need emotions to get in my way. Same for Dominick but since he's no longer in my squad he can do whatever he wants."

"Like fall in love. Why can't you do the same and find some woman to settle down with?"

"I'm a warrior. I don't have time for such emotional baggage."

"Suit yourself. Anyways you'll still take your test like the other two to prove yourself worthy of besting me and surviving what's yet to come. Something that has to do with the Foundation!" Anna vanished from the scene just as J fired another shot at her and continued her insane laughter.

"So she knows about Operation Verdict Day huh?" J muttered to himself, "It makes no difference. Nothing will stop the coming tide."

**…**

After receiving their reprimanding from Chifuyu, Dominick went to see someone he needed to talk to. He met said person in the hallway in front of his room waiting for him.

"Shin-chan…" Yami greeted.

"Yami…" Dominick managed to say which surprised his sister. "Can we talk?"

"Sure, anything you want." Yami replied in surprise. She didn't expect him to call her by her name or even speak politely to her instead of his usual insults. But the serious look he was giving her made the older Kusanagi sibling nervous.

"I don't hate you." Dominick said.

"Huh?" Yami asked in confusion.

"This situation with that Silver Gospel got me thinking. I realized that I'd been an asshole to you even when you tried to make amends with me." Dominick said, "I appreciate you trying to do that. I can say that I don't hate you but I can't forgive you yet. That will take some time."

"What about Tou-san and Kaa-san?" Yami asked.

"Those two relics are a different story. It'll take time to forgive you but as for them, I'll _let them rot for eternity for their sins_." Dominick hissed in disdain.

Yami took her brother's hand and held it her hands.

"Take all the time you need, Shin-chan." Yami said honestly. She was glad that she was now making progress with her brother. "Can I call you Shin-chan?"

"Yes, but only when it's the two of us."

"Okay Shin-chan."

Unknown to them, Laura and Chifuyu watched from their spots, happy to see that the siblings were now starting to get along.

**…**

Dominick had arrived at his room where Laura was waiting for him and he knew what was coming.

**SLAP!**

"Okay I deserved that." Dominick muttered while ignoring the pang of pain on his cheek right after receiving a slap from his fiancée.

"You're not allowed to die on me ever! Is that clear soldier?"

"And I love you too."

"Same here you idiot!" The German girl said as she pulled her fiancé into a tight hug. "I thought you died back there."

"You know that it'll take more than that to kill this idiot right?" Dominick returned the hug.

"You're not invincible."

"Whatever. Anyways it's time for bed and all that fighting has made me tired…"

"Oh I agree with you." Laura whispered sultrily as she undid the sash of her yukata, letting it fall to the floor and revealing her naked body to her man. Before Dominick could say anything she interrupted him with a kiss and pushed him onto the futon.

"You know we could get into trouble for this right?"

"Does it look like I care?"

"No. Well then, come to daddy!"

**…**

Outside the resort, Anna now in her white summer dress, white hat, shades and red high heels watched the young couple with amusement.

"Ah! The sight of blossoming relationship. Though I wonder how long they'll be able to maintain such love with what's on the horizon."

"_**That'll be up to them my lady."**_

'_Yes…it will be up to them if such love keeps them together or only causes pain for them.'_

**…**

Inside her secret lair Tabane was hard at work as she tried to crack through Nine Ball's security system. Ever since the Nine Ball Massacre the genius inventor had been trying to hack into the notorious IS and see what made it tick. Unfortunately she had been foiled by the IS' sophisticated firewalls made by its creator Dominick Santos or Shin Kusanagi, the only other male apart from Ichika that could pilot an IS.

After seeing Nine Ball undergo Second Shift just like the Byakushiki she wanted to know more.

Finally she got a break as she got through the firewalls. Now Nine Ball secrets will be hers!

"Now let's see what makes you tick Nine Ball." Tabane said mischievously. What came next was a video that made her widen her eyes before she screamed in terror and then fainted.

"**You've just been Rick Rolled bitch!" **Seraph said.

**…**

**Meanwhile in a secret place…**

"So the descendant of that lunatic from the old world knows of our plans?"

"It makes no difference. Our ambitions will not be stopped."

"And the ones to lead us all to a new future would be those three male IS pilots; Dominick Santos, Ichika Orimura and J."

**VERDICT DAY IS COMING….**

* * *

**Chapter 11 End.**

**I finally managed to finish this story. I hope you all enjoyed the ride while it lasted. After the last chapter I decided to get this story over and done with so that I can move on to my other stories. **

**Yes there will be a sequel as it's already been made obvious and I've got it planned out. As for when I'll get to writing it, I can't say. **

**So leave a review and have a good day while I leave you a few teaser scenes of the sequel, IS: Verdict Day!**

**...**

"You're insane J!" Ichika yelled at the older man who was in his IS N-WGIX/v.

"And what's wrong with that?" J simply replied.

**...**

"Enough words. Show me what you can do." Dominick said as he charged at Ichika.

"Oh I will show you what I can do and even more." Ichika replied and met Dominick's charge.

**...**

"I guess there's little need for words huh M?" Dominick asked the woman in an all black IS.

"You guessed right Nine Ball! Now prepare to die!"


End file.
